Another way to think about it is that the older you are, the easier it was for you to get through college through grants (among other things, I had Pell Grants, which had a 3% interest rate), subsidized state schools (my spouse went to UNC-Charlotte in the 1980s for only $500 a semester), and because minimum wage was much higher relative to costs than it is today.
Reagan and others started slashing at that, making college inaccessible to most Americans without lots of loans – which were outright predatory once transferred to private lenders by the Republican Party (again).
So the reality is that we have a long way to go to bring current students BACK UP to the levels of support you could get from 1950-1984.
Nicely summarized!
Another way to think about it is that the older you are, the easier it was for you to get through college through grants (among other things, I had Pell Grants, which had a 3% interest rate), subsidized state schools (my spouse went to UNC-Charlotte in the 1980s for only $500 a semester), and because minimum wage was much higher relative to costs than it is today.
Reagan and others started slashing at that, making college inaccessible to most Americans without lots of loans – which were outright predatory once transferred to private lenders by the Republican Party (again).
So the reality is that we have a long way to go to bring current students BACK UP to the levels of support you could get from 1950-1984.
It’s an investment in the future of our country.