My comments here are not meant to be deliberately controversial, but are designed to alert managers and aspiring managers, of all ages, to the fact that a first degree is a good option, but not the only option, yes, for some, perhaps for some, but definitely no for others.
As with most careers, a first degree BA or BSc is very valuable, and if you are leaving school and moving on to university, great choose an appropriate course (business :%$amp; management related if that is the field you plan to enter), work hard, and make sure you obtain as good a degree as possible and enjoy it, you're only there once. However, if you are about to, or have recently left high school, and university is not for you, or if you are in your early twenties and did not go to university there are many attractive options, including studying by distance learning.