What is the "purpose" of higher education?

The purpose of higher education is to get smart. But we are falling apart at the seams. Japan, Singapore, South Korea, China for example. I learned my trade from the bottom and worked my way up. Experience. Go to a community college. Take night classes like I did.

Figuring that since you are a 1LT, you more than likely graduated with at least a Baccalaureate Degree. So what has the degree afforded you?

From the walls at my alma mater, Iowa State, MJ Riggs, ""We come to college not alone to prepare to make a living, but to learn to live a life." I think it encompasses all of these goals - career, self-knowledge, community contribution, building networks and friendships that last a lifetime, and more.

It gives young men and women the opportunity to demonstrate to prospective employers that they are able to successfully complete their course of study, with presumably less supervision than in high school. And that helps the prospective employer determine whether the candidate will be a successful and productive employee, considering the quality of the school, grades, and course of study. It also helps identify those who the 4-6 years as an opportunity to have a good time...

Your undergraduate degree teaches you, "what to think." You learn about Maslow, number trees, business basics, etc. The purpose of the Graduate degree is to teach you, "how to think." Here is where you learn to research and make conclusions with what you learned during your undergrad.

For instance, you learn a little bit about Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. In the graduate level your research load is heavy and you learn to make decisions based on your research about circumstances using what you already learned during your undergrad.

I do not have a PhD but from my understanding you PROVE you know how to think to a board who reviews your research. As for employment, it varies on how far in the economic sphere you wish to travel.

Sometimes a BA or a Masters level is required for a job regardless of subject. Some degrees like an MBA may become a way to join an exclusive club (jobs). Education should lead to knowledge. But like anything in life, "we get out what we put it".

I met a CPT who said to me that she did not learn anything in her master's program... but she does not care and is only happy with the fact that she has a masters.

10 years from now when we have this conversation it will be very different because the way tech jobs are changing the skills needed versus education needed.