Education is important because, without it, you wouldn’t be able to read, write, speak, think critically, make decisions, know right from wrong, communicate, or understand how the world works. Though they are not mandatory, early childhood education and college education are just as important as mandatory K-12 education. 

Before we can understand the importance of early childhood education, we should talk about what age early childhood education refers to. Early childhood education encompasses any education a child receives up until the age of eight, or around third grade.

During these initial years of life, children’s brains are growing and learning at a rapid rate, and learning typically comes very easy to them. The purpose of education at this stage is to build a solid foundation for children to build upon for the rest of their lives.

 In addition to the educational advantages students with high-quality early education see, they also often find more pleasure in learning. When parents and teachers instill a love of learning early on, children are more likely to continue to love learning as they go through school. The better foundation they have from an early age, the more likely students are to find success and not get frustrated. When students struggle due to poor early childhood education, they are more likely to give up. 

A solid foundation is protective against falling behind, which is necessary because once students begin to fall behind, it becomes very hard to catch back up. In addition to the obvious benefits to each child, multiple studies have also shown that early childhood education programs provide an economic benefit to society as well. 

Along with childhood education, a college education is also very beneficial. According to Inside Higher Ed, more than one in five college graduates work in jobs that don’t require a degree. Statistics like this make people wonder if it’s worth spending years of their lives going into debt only to land a job they could have gotten without a degree.

While there are of course cases where people don’t use their college degree, the research still suggests that overall, earning a college degree is beneficial.  Education matters. Studies have shown that those who are more educated are more likely to live longer, live healthier lives, and are even more likely to help strangers. Investing in numerous types of education from the time children are young ensures that they have a strong foundation and that the whole person is being educated. The more diverse and well-rounded we can make education for children, the better educated they’ll be. 

Because both types of education are so important, every American should have free access to early childhood education and college education.