This post contains only a personal opinion, and a little bit of what I just know (perhaps read somewhere). This post will be in two languages. In Russian can be found here.
I guess that is gathered adults who already have a profession and / or education. But still, I will try to publish this article, though, if only because no one bothers me to do it.
I do not pointed my education in introduceyourself (I do not put the # sign to not set the flags for the excess tag, although I did not use either here or here). I have 2 higher educations. The first - psychology (I am on the staff selection specialist), the second - Informatics (Specialist Installation and configuration automated working places). And I do not work in these fields. The first reason: low salary. The second reason: a feature employment opportunities in our country - a good job, you can get only with the help of friends or relatives. Reason Three: I do not give or take bribes. So I live the way I live. No, I'm not complaining. Everything is fine.
So, you do not need to receive higher education (or education level below), if:
• you have the means for living (your parents or their ancestors have taken care of that you in no way needed), this term is called "old money families"
• You do not call in the army (in our country and in some other countries of the former USSR are entitled deferment from military service for that reason)
• you already have sufficient skills to work. It does not matter if you're a freelancer, or you will be working for someone else
• for some other reason you do not need a job. The reason can be anything. For example, you live in the village of subsistence economy and consume almost no external resources.
You need to get a higher education if:
• you have long chosen your path and you need to get or improve your professional skills
• you just need to get a degree (for promotion, for example)
• you decide to change profession (this parameter is not definite, you may run out of courses or vocational training)
• subjective reasons (the imposition of the parents, society, personal initiative without a goal, to get the status)
If you still think - about this post, then you've come to the finish line. My thought is - education and receive a mark on education are now different concepts. Education can not be bought, but a diploma - it is possible. And no matter how much money and time you spend on it, the main thing that made sense. Remember that life ends very quickly, and try to spend it so as not to regret it.