How much do you value education?

[Dio]

I suppose the title illustrates the topic well? What do you consider the ideal level of education for the average American in the foreseeable future? I consider the fact that it has become almost necessary to have a post secondary education in our society to catch a decent job.

[Mart]

! No longer available

[Valka]

As someone who learned to read at age 4, has been a life-long reader and learner, and who has been a teacher, I value having as much education as possible. There can never be too much, unless it fosters the attitude that practical knowledge is valueless.

[Lorizael]

According to the balance on my student loans, a lot.

[Rusty Edge]

Undergraduate College and vocational education for the average American.

I'd like to see more graduate degrees and a biotech explosion, but there is so much public resistance to pioneering developments, that I don't hold out much hope for the USA being the world leader in this field for long.

[Buster's Uncle]

I've already said my piece on this - college isn't for everyone, but most people can be distinctly improved by being less ignorant.

[Yitzi]

Undergraduate/vocational.  College isn't for everyone, but either college or vocational (including business, the arts, etc) is (well, except for rare exceptions who are just mentally disabled).

[Lorizael]

I don't have a strong opinion on how much schooling people should get. My stance is that whatever schooling we do require of the population, the goal of it (or one goal, anyway) should be to instill a love of learning and thinking. Then see where people go from there.

[Buster's Uncle]

Again, most people can be distinctly improved by being less ignorant.

You can't cure stupid, but ignorance is another matter - provided the stupid ain't overwhelming.

[Unorthodox]

Undergraduate/vocational.  College isn't for everyone, but either college or vocational (including business, the arts, etc) is (well, except for rare exceptions who are just mentally disabled).

Guess that makes me amongst the mentally disabled.  Barely graduated High School, and frankly would have been better off skipping the senior year, taking a GED and entering the workforce for all the good I derived from that senior year (aside from social aspects not related to the actual learning).  Bored out of my mind by the most advanced courses available, I quit going to class and lost all desire for College. 

Folks who know me are generally surprised at the lack of formal education, and there's no doubt I've been shunned because of it.  I've yet to see anything to make me believe the piece of paper from any school means a damn thing other than some arbitrary check box on applications. 

[Buster's Uncle]

But there's the other side - the status thing.  How to guess your career trajectory WITH the arbitrary check box checked?

[Unorthodox]

I'd rather see it removed as a status symbol, myself.  Or at least for the love of god, let people test out of the entire thing if they can.  It's little more than a cash cow as it stands. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Testing out, I totally agree with.

College made me a better-rounded person, but I dunno that it made me $60,000 better-rounded...

[Dio]

I know some schools offer AP tests that, with a high enough score on the tests, allow people to skip one or more courses in the calculus sequence. The schools in my area also offer another AP English that allow students to skip the freshmen undergraduate courses.

[Buster's Uncle]

Uno and I have in common that we're more self-educated than anything else - just, I have the paper and he doesn't.  Honestly, the main thing all school did for me after they taught me to read was provide access to books.

But they DID make me study things I'd be totally ignorant of now, otherwise...