Deserved to be educated, but not initially (6)
I believe the answer is:
earned
'deserved' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'educated but not initially' is the wordplay.
'educated' becomes 'learned' (similar in meaning).
'but not initially' means to remove the first letter.
'learned' with its first letter removed is 'EARNED'.
'to be' is the link.
(Other definitions for earned that I've seen before include "Merited through behavior" , "Gained through work or effort" , "Merited through work" , "made money" , "Took home" .)