I read an article earlier today about the psychological/biological concept of a "critical period." Most people are framiliar with it, but just in case, here's a definition: a "critical period" is a period in a child's life (usually pre-adolesence) when acquisition of a certain skill is most efficient. This concept is usually mentioned in reference to language acquisition, but I have read some interesting literature on its application to mathematics skills as well. In any case, I thought the following would be food for thought: Here in the US, we put a strong emphasis on university education, and fund it in kind. However, it seems to me that the socialization and education children recieve in elementary, middle, and high schools may have more of an impact on overall learning, especially if this "critical period," phenomenon is taken into account. Perhaps some funding should be redistributed towards bolstering primary and secondary ed, in an attempt to avoid the costly and (presumably) less efficient acquisition of math, science, and foreign language skills at the post-secondary level? Something to think about.