There are ways to do both. My degree was in aviation management, so it gave me what I consider a strong background in aviation, business, and airport operations so I could still work around planes even if I couldn't fly them. I found out later that a final I took in a class was "remarkably similiar" to the AAAE certification test so I figure I must have a pretty good starting off point. The long and short of it is, a degree is only as useful as you make it. There are people with aviation degrees that could get hired doing whatever they want and there are people with non-aviation degrees who couldn't work at McDonalds.