NP here. I wouldn't bother getting a BA just for that reason. It's not a big deal to me, and I have a BS and a BA. I know two people with no degree at all that seem very well educated because of their well paid jobs, their work ethic, and the way they speak. Uneducated to me is no high school diploma. Also, you can't compare previous generation's education levels to nowadays. Having a high school degree in our grandparents' generation = having a bachelor's in our generation.

Anonymous wrote:Can you speak a foreign language, give the dates of the French Revolution and the American Civil War, recite a classical poem, name at least five operas and their composers, solve a system of linear equations, explain how a microwave works? Have you read a work of fiction in the last year? Read any work of fiction considered a "classic" outside of school?

If you answer no to any of the above, and especially if you claim that one of the above is not necessary because you specialized in something else in college and graduate school, then I would consider you uneducated even if you have a PhD.

Now excuse me as I run to Wikipedia to read up on microwaves should any of you decide to call me on it.

You're talking about a liberal arts education. I don't agree that specialized, technical degrees make you uneducated, but I believe that a liberal arts degree makes you better educated than others.

Yes. If you just have an associates degree, you are uneducated. You may be smart and read, but you are still badly educated.

I don't agree that people don't have access to a college education. Most people can't afford a private education, but they can afford a BA or BS from a state school, even if they have to earn it one class at a time. If you are so poor that you can't afford to pay for one class at a time, then you will qualify for pell grants and loans. College is the US is expensive, but there are ways to get it.

I do worry that a lot of people don't know how to access the help they need to afford it, though.

Can you speak a foreign language, give the dates of the French Revolution and the American Civil War, recite a classical poem, name at least five operas and their composers, solve a system of linear equations, explain how a microwave works? Have you read a work of fiction in the last year? Read any work of fiction considered a "classic" outside of school?

If you answer no to any of the above, and especially if you claim that one of the above is not necessary because you specialized in something else in college and graduate school, then I would consider you uneducated even if you have a PhD.

Now excuse me as I run to Wikipedia to read up on microwaves should any of you decide to call me on it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The grandmother stories are touching but let's remember that they grew up in a time when women were not necessarily expected to go to college. Lots of smart women didn't in those days. I don't think that experience translates as well to today when a college degree is the minimum level of education expected in many professional fields.

This is what I was thinking as I read through all the previous posts. So OP, I was going to ask, "How old are you?" I had 3 grandparents who went to college and 1 who did not; were she still alive, she'd be 84 today. So, if you are in this age group, ok. Any younger than this, however, I do think people should at least get a 4-year Bachelor's.

Not everyone has access to college. Especially today.

While technically that is true it is also true that college education is far more common for women and minorities than it was a generation ago. Enrollment at leading universities is far more diverse. Financial aid is significant.

Yes, I would consider you uneducated. But, I don't equate educated with being smart, intelligent, or anything like that. To me, being educated means being formally educated - and a 4 year degree would be the minimum level of education I'd consider "educated."

But I want to emphasize that from your post, you sound smart, intelligent and very bright and someone I'd probably admire. Learning your education level wouldn't change my opinion of you - I would still admire you.

OP, unless the degree will get you a better job or chance at promotion, etc. It's seriously not worth your time and money. F&ck the "Jones" I took on a lot of debt for college and its helped tremendously in some ways (quick to land jobs), but it doesn't factor into my private life at all.

My friend is in school at 45 to finally get her's. I admire her so much and am as proud of her As as she is. She has more street smarts and compassion than many of the entitled aholes here in DC area. I never cared about her lack of degree, but she did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The grandmother stories are touching but let's remember that they grew up in a time when women were not necessarily expected to go to college. Lots of smart women didn't in those days. I don't think that experience translates as well to today when a college degree is the minimum level of education expected in many professional fields.

This is what I was thinking as I read through all the previous posts. So OP, I was going to ask, "How old are you?" I had 3 grandparents who went to college and 1 who did not; were she still alive, she'd be 84 today. So, if you are in this age group, ok. Any younger than this, however, I do think people should at least get a 4-year Bachelor's.

Not everyone has access to college. Especially today.

Yes, if the criterion is formal education.

Anonymous wrote:I never think of people in terms of educated/uneducated. I've met too many people with fancy degrees who know nothing about the world around them. I understand your insecurity though OP. I like living in DC, but will never get used to the way people try to size you up (education/career) before deciding whether or not you're worth their time.

+1.

Lots of PC responses here, but my answer would be yes.

Anonymous wrote:The grandmother stories are touching but let's remember that they grew up in a time when women were not necessarily expected to go to college. Lots of smart women didn't in those days. I don't think that experience translates as well to today when a college degree is the minimum level of education expected in many professional fields.

This is what I was thinking as I read through all the previous posts. So OP, I was going to ask, "How old are you?" I had 3 grandparents who went to college and 1 who did not; were she still alive, she'd be 84 today. So, if you are in this age group, ok. Any younger than this, however, I do think people should at least get a 4-year Bachelor's.

The grandmother stories are touching but let's remember that they grew up in a time when women were not necessarily expected to go to college. Lots of smart women didn't in those days. I don't think that experience translates as well to today when a college degree is the minimum level of education expected in many professional fields.

I agree with PPs who say that most people probably don't know you don't have a college degree but if it bothers you, you should think about going back to get it. I think you'd bring a lot to any class you were in. You have a lot of life experience which is often lacking in college classes.

Like the PP whose grandmother grew up on a farm and had a high school diploma, my grandmother was also one of the most educated people I've ever known. She grew up dirt poor, married at 16, had my father at 17 and didn't graduate from high school until she was in her 60s. She worked in the school cafeteria she took classes and graduated from. She was very well read and researched items she found at flea markets (Real, midwestern flea markets. Not what we have here), auctions and yard sales. She was so very creative. She could piece together fabics, creating her own pattern and sew the most amazing things. She refinished and repaired furniture. She was an amazing cook and could kill and dress a chicken/duck like the best chef. She was also excellent at reading people and very intuitive. She had such difficult life and the older I get the more I see how underappreciated she was and how often she felt inadequate. I just hope she knows how much she taught me and how much I learned from her. I talk to my kids about her often.

Like the PP, I say this because a college degree doesn't mean you are educated. It may be something you need to advance in your career but if you really want to be educated, you need curiousity. My grandmother has really opened my eyes to the many type of intelligences and how many people in the trades are well educated and how many white collar people are not. Education is what you do for yourself, not what a school does for you.