Long gone are the days when a high school diploma could guarantee a job at a local factory -- not when so many of those factories had moved overseas.

WHITEHOUSE: Moving Forward on a New Foundation

To put himself through design school, he worked as an apprentice--once severing part of a finger--in a factory that made molds for everything from automobile logos to eyeglass frames.

FORBES: Tough Guy

To put himself through design school, he worked as an apprentice--once severing part of a finger--in a factory that made molds for such things as automobile logos and eyeglass frames.

FORBES: Lens master

Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing dropped out of school at age 15, after his father died, to work in a factory.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The school's reputation as an NBA factory has become so ingrained that it's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy: Carolina continues to churn out top players because recruits know Carolina churns out pros.

WSJ: Duke, North Carolina Top College Basketball's Alumni Loot Index