this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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So back in the mid 1900's in the USA tuition cost a fairly reasonable amount (about 8-10 percent of a minimum wage income could be budgeted for school, depending on which one you went to) but from 1970-2020 we saw an explosion of college tuition that didn't match inflation/CoL/income.
So now in order to budget for a public state school you need to allot about 40% of your minimum wage income for tuition. OR you can sell your life to the military and potentially die that way (if you're even medically able and willing) in addition to the previously mentioned "go into debt until you're 60" method that we currently use.
Somehow, while costs have been skyrocketing the quality of schooling has been going downhill for awhile now as funding gets reallocated to the things that make the most money which is just sports essentially (also why it's so damn expensive.)
Tuition has gone up much more. The average US college will now require 157% of your minimum wage income, provided you can still work full time on top of school.
Average US cost of attending college in 2023-2024: $23,630 per year
Federal minimum wage: $7.25 per hour
I was using the metric of state MW where I live compared to tuition at a public state college with in-state tuition.
Your results may vary, if you live in a state that has no state MW I don't know how you'd ever be able to afford it without enlisting or having wealthy family.
Even more fun:
The sports still cost the school money unless the team is popular enough to move merchandise.
Education isn't even the highest priority for a college anymore, it's the teams they can use to make MORE MONEY.
Unless it costs you money and you never make any! Guess we'll just pass that cost onto the students as well, fuck 'em.