Some advice: internships and engineering coops are really great ways to get experience in your field, while getting that magical degree.
My student assistantship started the summer after my senior year of high school and I attribute some of it to my prior experience since my high school didn't provide much in the way of CS classes so I lacked a formal education but it wasn't a full time job either.
You aren't just padding your resume, you're also getting a feel for the different paths in your career you could pursue.
I had 3 different Internships for 3 different companies, and although that added a decent amount of stress (an annual job hunt) to my college career, I 100% recommend it.
I worked for a medium sized team at Georgia Tech's Research Institute, was the first hire at a startup, and worked DoD contracts for BAE, a defense contractor.
Those are all extremely different, and I not only built a resume that served me well in a variety of interviews, but also learned things I absolutely did not want to do.
However, your principal point, that work/study is a good idea, I wholeheartedly agree with.