Tuition: In 1988, the average tuition and fees for a four-year public university rang in at about $2,800, adjusted for inflation. By 2008, that number had climbed about 130% to roughly $6,500 a year — and that doesn’t include books or room and board.
Income: If incomes had kept up with surging college costs, the typical American would be earning $77,000 a year. But in reality, it’s nowhere near that.
In 2008 — the latest data available — the median income was $33,000. That means if you adjust for inflation, Americans in the middle actually earned $400 less than they did in 1988. (Read: How the middle class became the underclass).
Financial aid: Meanwhile, the amount of federal aid available to individual students has also failed to keep up. Since 1992, the maximum available through government-subsidized student loans has remained at $23,000 for a four-year degree.
“There does seem to be this growing disparity between income and the cost of higher education,” said Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. “At the same time, there’s been a fundamental shift, moving away from public subsidization, to individuals bearing more of the cost of higher education.”
Facing that disparity, it’s no wonder then that two other trends have emerged: Families are taking on unprecedented levels of debt or downgrading their child’s education from a four-year, to a two-year, degree to cut costs.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/13/news/economy/college_tuition_middle_class/index.htm
Things are different today.
Only to the extent that people expect their goals to be met before they have the ability to pay for them. Whatever happened to pay as you go? Once upon a time, that was a traditional value.
You would be amazed at how many fines at the courts are being paid by the tuition money from the government when it is received. I then wonder if the individuals enter school.