Don't underestimate the value of prior experience. Keep going with the electronics engineering degree. You will not regret it. The 17 years experience is very valuable. You would be surprised how much experience of the real practical world will give you a big edge over fresh graduates. In fact, I have found the best engineers are generally those who have been technicians with practical experience.
The contrast is stark when you get an industrial designer or mechanical engineer with no prior technician experience. Serviceability is generally the last thing on their mind unfortunately because they have no experience servicing equipment. Similar with electronics. An electronics engineer who designs a PCBA without any ground test points, or who does not think there is any value in back annotating (resulting component designators sequentially near each other on a PCB), means he and those reviewing his work have probably never worked as debug or service techs.
Hey, before electronics engineering when I was at high school, I worked in Children's Shoes Department at a major retailer (the Aussie equivalent to similar to the US Sears, Roebuck & Co) fitting shoes on kids, doing stock etc. Even though I hated the job, I liked the money and it taught me life skills I otherwise would not have had. Later, I fixed TV's and videos on the side whilst working as an engineer - the experience fixing VHS, Beta VCRs and PAL picture tube TVs was invaluable.
Good luck with your bright future.