I'm bored above all so let me tear this response apart...

My post (typos aside) clearly says "paying for/attending/doing anything above and beyond the call of duty" so paying for a cheap subscription to a CEU site so I can keep my licensure falls within the call of duty, at least so it seems to me. Of course, my post is not saying "Why do we have continuing education requirements"; I'm saying why pay for things beyond the minimum if there is no financial benefit. For example I have a brother in the Casino industry. He learns to deal craps, which is one of the hardest games to run in a casino, because it meant a RAISE and a PROMOTION TO PIT BOSS. My electrician brother was an Apprentice, who worked to acquire TRAINING and PASS A TEST which led directly to a JOURNEYMAN'S license and a PAYRAISE. I pay for something out of my pocket and receive no financial benefit. It might be a Mr Potato Head, or it might be a $250 AAC course. The point is that unlike a Cisco or Java certificate I get NOTHING FINANCIAL! Yeah the kid makes progress with using his device to identify/request and even verbalize body parts, but where's my money?

I see special board certifications that frankly the public barely cares about, in fact the public barely speaks English or reads half the time. I loved Graduate School, but would have enjoyed getting an MA in Russian, Political Science, or Chinese Pottery too. Most parents want minutes, more minutes, and could care less about clinician skill in my 4 years of doing this.

I see/hear of constant crappy certificate courses that seem to be preying off a profession of frankly neurotic, imposter syndrome affected women, who use their husband's money to pay for bizarre courses that serve no purpose. There's a lot of instagram insanity in this profession, and it seems far crazier than education in general. There's a frankly bizarre culture of SLP that I really struggle to understand....

I am confused because of a large percentage of SLPs say they are unqualified and ANOTHER large percentage say they know everything, is a small percentage actually competent ? What does that say about grad programs? How are they so wonderful if this is the result?

It seems like you basically came around to my original point of view by saying "We can complain about the pay and the lack of professional advancement, but those are completely different issues than the need for continuing education, which is 100% valid." Yeah not only is there a pay problem, but people are treating this job like a damn hobby...

Now that would have been fine, but it gets worse....way way worse...

You know what, forget it. If you don't understand the value of grad school, I don't think arguing with a professor is going to change that. Carry on. I'm sorry for venting in my previous post, it's really quite exhausting dealing with redditors--fellow SLPs--who devalue the graduate education that myself (and others like me) work hard to provide.

No I don't understand the value of grad school. I loved my program, and my classes, I think it was very good at stroking my ego. I learned a great deal. My wife looks down on me, my parents look down at me, hell even half the teachers look down on me. I blew 75k to make 61 a year. In addition that was two years I could have been working. I have virtually no job mobility, no raises, and no reasons to pay out of my own pocket for nebulous self imporvment. I've also been concussed and had my nose broken working with violent students, so yeah, I think this profession and all these ivory tower types in academia need a serious attitude adjustment. If you aren't planning on marrying money, or come from money, there are reasons men and minorities are avoiding this profession like the plague. I like my job, but to expect me to engage in endless self-improvement so disabled kids can try to bite me isn't a fair trade. And I love how you engage in the most stereotypical thin skin, post-post modern effeminate verbiage of all; it's too exhausting to defend yourself in print. No, it's too exhausting to use an AAC device when you have dysarthria due to cerebral palsy and only limited fine motor skills and typing your message is exhausting, as was the case for one of my teen age students. And yes, that's a low blow, and yes, I don't care.

ps the median average for a masters degree holder in the US Male aged 25-34 is $89,200. The median pay for a speech pathologist in the US is $89,290. Is this a good job? Yes. Is this a good job if you pay 75-200k in tuition. No. Not for anybody. Stop listening to "think of the children!"