A friend of mine started with A+ and Network +, then got a job with a school system that paid for his Server+, MSCE testing, and reimbursed some of his education.
Another friend - after getting Associates Equivalence in Electronics Tech a while back, got a job working with HP, who offered to co-pay (I forget how much in %) his CCNA cert classes/testing.
Moral of the story - in the US there seems to be opportunity to gain employment and get the employer to at least share some of the costs for more advanced education.