The point is that it doesn't differentiate between people who simply never finished/went to college, like me, from people who are still in college, which is an interesting data point.
Or between people who dropped out of PhD programs and those who never started, which is also an interesting data point given the few high-profile PhD dropout startup founders there are out there.
(Dropping out of PhD = walking away with a Masters in some places, but not all; I had my Master's degrees before I started the PhD.)
> completed (i.e., met all requirements and passed)
That sounds 'formal' to me, in the sense of either you have a degree or you don't. I took Italian in college, and having lived here a number of years, probably speak it well enough to teach it, know the grammar well, etc... but I don't have a degree in it.
Whatever though... these things are kind of pointless. I think it's best to do what you want in life and get on with it and not worry too much about what other people do.
Claiming that someone who's been in college for several years' highest level of education is "high school" presents a very odd definition of the word "education". Perhaps you meant degree?
* Still in HS
* Still in College
* Still in PhD program
to help weed those out.