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I don't think Shakespeare has much to say about human experience, at least he's not the best or most interesting playwright in that field. *coughIbsencough* But he is by far the most quoted, paraphrased and generally played with, so Shakespeare (and the Bible, and Homer, Virgil, Cervantes etc) is like a basic body of knowledge required to understand and interpret more modern literature and other forms of art.
Also, being able to deciper a text that isn't plain and straight-forward is a VERY valuable skill in every path of life. But reading Shakespeare requires a lot of initial guidance, not only because the language is old-fashioned, but because reading a play is way different from reading a novel. Me, I'm so used to it that I have no trouble at all, but I've recently had to guide some first-timers through the joys of only dialogue and stage directions and it was an enlightening experience.
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