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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Most of the people I know didn't have loans.[/quote]

Are most of the people you know from very upper class families?[/quote]

No, it was just cheaper back then. But now that I think about it, I know people who had grad school loans.[/quote]

I don't know a single person who didn't have undergrad loans who wasn't very wealthy. (class of '89)[/quote]

Considering college was cheaper back then, this exemplifies why the pressure for middle class to pay all of it is becoming unrealistic. There was a separate thread about saving $1M(!!!!).

Only the very wealthy can do that, or perhaps middle class who essentially live poorly and/or have some form of generational wealth (like didn't have loans, unexpected inheritance, etc.) to help them in that pursuit.[/quote]

College was not that much cheaper given incomes and inflation.  A private was still $40-50k 30 years ago. [/quote]

College was absolutely cheaper back then...in 1950 Harvard was $625/year and around $1,000/year including room and board and the median HHI was $3,100.

In 1990, Harvard total cost of attendance was $19,395 and median HHI was $50,000.

Today, Harvard total cost of attendance is $83,538 and median HHI is $75,000/

So, Harvard went from 32% to 39% to 111% of HHI over those time periods.[/quote]

University of MD total COA in 1990 for in-state was $6,500, so, 13% of HHI.  Current in-state total COA is $29,637, so 40% of HHI.

Perhaps the bigger issue is just how little median HHI has increased since 1990.[/quote]

It's a combination issue - tuition costs rising far faster than cost of inflation. HHI income rising slower than the cost of inflation.

Which is where it's harder for MC and UMC parents to fully fund tuition, certainly harder than it was for their parents who may have been more lower middle class to MC, given stagnant salaries relative to accelerating tuition costs.

30 years ago, MC could sometimes fund kids to go to private colleges. Now those kids are going to struggle to fund their kids to attend public in state universities. And no, not everybody needs to go to a private college or should when they can't afford it.

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