I think the significance of Hojo and Gast's titles being 'professor' and not 'doctor' really just clicked in my brain. Something to do with now having to remember that I have professors now and not teachers, and have to address them as such. But back to the point, I think it definately implies that there is higher-level education somewhere in that particular universe - most likely above the plate in Midgar, although location is less important. This in turn kind of implies a lower-level education system, which makes me feel justified in having assumed one XD Although, the idea of Hojo teaching classes is a bit scary. Well, might be a bit like Snape, really.
And a sort of larger idea connected to all this - it's really facinating to contemplate that world, and try to fill in all of the many little gaps we're left with. We see a lot of stuff on the surface in the game - mako reactors, SOLDIER, etc. - but none of the inner workings, the background. Jo and I were having a very interesting conversation on science and technology in the FF7 world Saturday night, that kept me up a bit longer than I expected to be XD
...Yeah, this RP has totally taken over my brain.