Lots of options for civilians.
- Get a job that offers education incentives. Lots of programs do this, like IT, Hospitals, and Government jobs.
- Apprenticeships and internships. For many industries like movie making, school is a formality that can be totall bypassed with good networking skills and the willingness to work your ass off.
- Certifications. Other industries, like welding, plumbing, etc. may only require small certifications to get started and don't require a full on degree. EMS people only need a cert qualifier, as do nutritionists and personal trainers (and even then... you don't NEED a formal degree, but it does look good.) and the like.
- Trial by fire. Chefs have formal education that can run you lots of money.. but you can also start off cooking from the bottom and work your way up. With things like food trucks becoming popular, you can potentially land a gig in an industry like this. Acting and musicals is the same way, you can really just audition your ass off. You might not get to the top tiers this way, but you can certainly get started. Computers can be the same way, you can learn a lot without any formal education just by working with them and fucking up a lot.
- This-for-that things. A lot of workforce solutions offices will offer exchanges similar to the military.. you don't 'just' serve and get free stuff. You have to serve a certain amount of time. Teachers can get free education in exchange for agreeing to teach in some of the worst areas of a city for a while. While some of these things are really hard, but that's sort of the point: nothing is truly free.
- Move to a place with free education opportunities. University of Houston, NY, etc. are all offering free education.. if you're willing to live the state/city for the near foreseeable future. You can at least get a bachelor's degree. Whole countries, like Germany, offer this as well.
As far as a masters.. unless you're working in education, there's really no need for it. I think a lot of people use school as a sort of limbo... like.. they aren't willing/ready to work in the industry, but want to pursue it anyways. You can ALWAYS find ways of getting into your field outside of a 4 year degree.. and work on the degree as you go along. For example, a lot of older nurses started out as LPNs. They got certs to do pretty much everything a regular RN does, or transitioned practice easily into RN position, without a 4 year degree at all. I did a program where my bachelor's was earned in 1 1/2 years only.. a far cry from a 4 year degree.