University of California, San Diego, cognitive scientist Philip Guo on the main purpose of education:

The main purpose of education is to strengthen your mind so that you can more easily learn to deal with specific challenges you will face throughout your life. Even though you will forget most of what you learned in school, the intense effort you spend struggling with difficult academic material tones your mind, just like how physical conditioning tones your body (even though it serves almost no practical purpose.)

Why yould go to school: to build myself into a smarter and better person – without any illusions for some instant salary pay-off.