Education

I'm curious, how much do you value education? That is, are you going into debt to pay for your child's college or are you putting aside money in a 529 plan? Either suggests you value that college degree.

I never have valued one so highly. Perhaps that's just a "sour grapes" attitude. My parents could not have afforded to send me to college nor did they try. I took a few months at a community college in Brevard County, FL (think Cocoa Beach) and, after I got out of the Navy, I took a year at a San Diego community college. I mostly majored in "G.I. Bill"... what many vets did at the time was collect benefits to supplement income... I had no real intent to matriculate to a 4-year school.

While in the Navy I passed up a chance to get a college education paid for by the Navy in exchange for at least 4 years of service after graduation. One offer was to fly, the other would have been as a regular officer.

But I wasn't interested. I had no ambition, you could say. Now, of course, I regret not taking one of the offerings but who knew at the time?

The reason I ask is the flak one of the potential GOP candidates is getting over his having dropped out some 32 or 33 credits short of a degree. Do we need our presidents to have college degrees? Do we think college makes you smart?