What does it mean to be educated

The introduction to chapter 12 provided us with some examples of what was going to be talked about throughout the chapter and how different people have different opinions on what it means to be educated. In my opinion education means a lot things. To some, a pre-school graduate might be considered educated, while others think that one is not educated until they have their masters in whatever with a PHD. Every school is different, being from the north I have always heard that northern schools are more challenging than southern schools. This might be true at the high school level but in college I think location has very little to do with education.
Getting an education is almost essential today, at the very least a high school diploma is needed. Why though? Why does that one piece of paper make such a difference in peoples lives and their ability to get a job? Well to be completely honest I have no idea who decides what it means to be educated. Sure each state and the government have some control over education but I believe it's really a personal choice. If someone has the desire and drive to educate themselves then that's exactly what they should do. If not, why spend the thousands of dollars it takes these days to do something you don't want to do? You decide what it means to be educated and you follow through in educating yourself.