Originally Posted by rickair7777

This is ludicrous. You sir, are absolutely incorrect.

Aviation training is 99% "vocational", and perhaps 1% "educational". The only part that might be considered educational is some aspects of CRM.

Vocational training is narrowly focused on specific skills that apply to a trade (like welding or plumbing). A pilot solves most problems by running checklists.

Education is specifically broadly focused to widen your base of knowledge, especially providing an appreciation and understanding of the past, and different cultures in the hopes of providing a sound basis for future judgement and decision making. Equally important, education develops problem solving skills involving critical thought and analysis (vice running checklists and memory items). Skill-intensive majors such as engineering, medicine, and computer science clearly require a lot of technical knowledge, but the actual application of that knowledge requires analytical skills.

Now there is certainly a place for the application of analytical and even critical thinking skills in aviation, primarily when dealing with other people (crew, ATC, ground services, mx, etc). But flight training is very far from educational, so hopefully you picked those skills up somewhere else along the way.

Do you "need" education to be a pilot? In absolute terms, no. Do you need a degree to progress in the industry in the US? Most likely, yes.

But aviation training or operations is not education.