"You are not to say this to your mother, or to Carrie. But from now on, you got to listen how to run this farm. We got five years to go on it, and the land is ours. Lock and stock. Five years to pay off. And you'll be through school by then."
"I'll quit school and work the farm."
"No you won't. You stay and get schooled. Get all the teaching you can hold." (12.98-100)
Like elsewhere in the book, Papa insists that Rob pursue his education as far as possible, even in the face of Papa's death. Though quitting school might help Rob in the short-term, it would be disastrous for his future.