1978 students working min wage were able to pay full yrs tuition at 4 yr public univ

[Oldgamer]

"In 1978, a student who worked a minimum-wage summer job could afford to pay a year's full tuition at the 4-year public university of their choice."


Source Link

Everything was better in the old days, apparently -- including the chore of paying for college, at least according to a social media meme sent to us recently by a reader.

The meme -- created by OurTime.org, an advocacy group for young Americans -- said, "In 1978, a student who worked a minimum-wage summer job could afford to pay a year's full tuition at the 4-year public university of their choice."

Really? We figured this was worth a look.

First, the minimum wage. Starting on Jan. 1, 1978, the minimum wage was $2.65. Someone working at the minimum wage for 13 weeks, and 40 hours per week, in the summer of 1978 would have ended up with $1,378 for their labors.

For the tuition they would have faced in the 1978-79 school year, we turned to figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, the federal government’s repository of education data.

The cost of tuition and fees (in that year’s dollars, not adjusted for inflation) was $688 for in-state residents attending a four-year, public university.

So the meme’s claim is correct except for a few caveats -- two minor and one more significant:

• The cost of tuition and fees plus room and board was significantly higher that year -- $2,145 -- but the meme was careful to cite "tuition" only, so we’ll ignore the impact of room and board.

• The tuition-and-fees figure we used is a national average, so some states may have had in-state tuition rates out of reach of minimum wage workers.

• The meme’s only notable failing has to do with overly broad wording -- specifically its use of the phrase "of their choice." The data we used refers to in-state tuition, meaning that the student would have access to this sweet tuition rate only at their home-state university. That’s not the same thing as "of their choice."

Our ruling

The meme said that "in 1978, a student who worked a minimum-wage summer job could afford to pay a year's full tuition at the 4-year public university of their choice."

If you use the national average the figure is correct. The only problem is the part about a university "of their choice." The data is correct for in-state tuition -- not for any university in the country, where out-of-state rates may well have kicked up the tuition amount beyond a summer’s minimum-wage haul.

On balance, we rate the claim Mostly True.


----------------------------------------------

....and they could afford their rent, and transportation and all without Government assistance. All the more reason we need to bring the Federal Min. Wage up to par and have it set to increase along with inflation.

 

[ivwshane]

Well we certainly don't need to make education cheaper, we just need to make getting a loan for it easier

/s

 

[Ronstang]

There's no inflation according to Obama....but us old folks know better.

 

[theeedude]

There's no inflation according to Obama....but us old folks know better.

Quote of Obama saying there is no inflation?

 

[BoberFett]

You want to set minimum wage based on the price of a college education?

 

[OverVolt]

Quote of Obama saying there is no inflation?

Basically everyone says inflation is not a problem at the moment even though healthcare and tuition inflation is real. Why try and make a point over semantics. Where you see a false statement to pick at I see *someone we know* fail to understand what the person intended to say.

But yes, inflation is not 0% so you win the parts of the internet nobody cares about :awe:.

 

[theeedude]

You want to set minimum wage based on the price of a college education?

Aren't we always told how people who are getting minimum wage are supposed to lift themselves out of it by getting college education?

 

[Jaskalas]

Would $15/hr job pay for it?

 

[alcoholbob]

Would $15/hr job pay for it?

For a summer job? If we use UC system in state costs you would have to make $27/hour just to pay off tuition. To have as much left over as in the 1978 example, minimum wage would have to be $53.92/hour.

 

[shira]

There's no inflation according to Obama....but us old folks know better.

Obama never said there WAS no inflation from 1978 through the day he started office. He said only that there IS no inflation. In fact, there was been significant inflation from 1978 through 2009, when Obama took office.

The implication of the OP is that the tuition cost of 4-year colleges has far, far outstripped inflation. Or to put this another way, the minimum wage hasn't remotely kept up with the the rate of increase of college tuition.

In fact, it's pretty easy to figure: In 1978, according to the OP, in-state tuition averaged $688 and the minimum wage was $2.65. Fast forward to 2014: Eyeballing this chart
tuitions
It looks like the average (not the average weighted by size of each state's enrollment) is about $8500, a more than 12-fold increase. But the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, with several states having minimum wages a little higher - let's call if $7.50 on average, or a less than 3-fold increase since 1978.

According to this calculator
Inflation calculator
inflation has grown by a factor of about 3.3 from 1978 to 2009, and by a factor of about 1.11 since 2009.

So state tuition has grown more than four times faster than the minimum wage and 3.75 times faster than inflation.

Edit: I should also add that one of the drivers of the cost of tuition has been Republican tax cutting. For example, prop 13 in CA drastically reduced property taxes in CA, starving the UC system of funds. That's pretty much the Republican strategy: Cut taxes and reduce costs on the backs of the middle class. The miracle of "limited government."

 

[OverVolt]

I generally ballpark tuition as 400% of inflation. It can't go up forever, unlike house prices. Oh wait they didn't go up forever either. :awe:

 

[Oldgamer]

Obama never said there WAS no inflation from 1978 through the day he started office. He said only that there IS no inflation. In fact, there was been significant inflation from 1978 through 2009, when Obama took office.

The implication of the OP is that the tuition cost of 4-year colleges has far, far outstripped inflation. Or to put this another way, the minimum wage hasn't remotely kept up with the the rate of increase of college tuition.

In fact, it's pretty easy to figure: In 1978, according to the OP, in-state tuition averaged $688 and the minimum wage was $2.65. Fast forward to 2014: Eyeballing this chart
tuitions
It looks like the average (not the average weighted by size of each state's enrollment) is about $8500, a more than 12-fold increase. But the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, with several states having minimum wages a little higher - let's call if $7.50 on average, or a less than 3-fold increase since 1978.

According to this calculator
Inflation calculator
inflation has grown by a factor of about 3.3 from 1978 to 2009, and by a factor of about 1.11 since 2009.

So state tuition has grown more than four times faster than the minimum wage and 3.75 times faster than inflation.

Edit: I should also add that one of the drivers of the cost of tuition has been Republican tax cutting. For example, prop 13 in CA drastically reduced property taxes in CA, starving the UC system of funds. That's pretty much the Republican strategy: Cut taxes and reduce costs on the backs of the middle class. The miracle of "limited government."

I was reading that university education costs have gone up like 900% since 1978. Not to mention medical costs too..

 

[OverVolt]

Despite all the problems in the world, literally if we could fix healthcare and college institutions we would be in good shape for the next 50 years.

 

[alcoholbob]

Some people would describe the rise of tuition as inflation itself--wherever the government s inflating the currency you see the direct effect in the rise in prices. In the 1950s the average American completed up to the 10th or 11th grade on average before entering the work force and quickly entered the middle class. Today 66.2% of high school graduates are enrolled into college just to avoid working in mcdonalds or Walmart. I'd say the government successfully inflated a college bubble at the cost the currency's purchasing power.

 

[1prophet]

"In 1978, a student who worked a minimum-wage summer job could afford to pay a year's full tuition at the 4-year public university of their choice."


Source Link

Everything was better in the old days, apparently -- including the chore of paying for college, at least according to a social media meme sent to us recently by a reader.

The meme -- created by OurTime.org, an advocacy group for young Americans -- said, "In 1978, a student who worked a minimum-wage summer job could afford to pay a year's full tuition at the 4-year public university of their choice."

Really? We figured this was worth a look.

First, the minimum wage. Starting on Jan. 1, 1978, the minimum wage was $2.65. Someone working at the minimum wage for 13 weeks, and 40 hours per week, in the summer of 1978 would have ended up with $1,378 for their labors.

For the tuition they would have faced in the 1978-79 school year, we turned to figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, the federal government’s repository of education data.

The cost of tuition and fees (in that year’s dollars, not adjusted for inflation) was $688 for in-state residents attending a four-year, public university.

So the meme’s claim is correct except for a few caveats -- two minor and one more significant:

• The cost of tuition and fees plus room and board was significantly higher that year -- $2,145 -- but the meme was careful to cite "tuition" only, so we’ll ignore the impact of room and board.

• The tuition-and-fees figure we used is a national average, so some states may have had in-state tuition rates out of reach of minimum wage workers.

• The meme’s only notable failing has to do with overly broad wording -- specifically its use of the phrase "of their choice." The data we used refers to in-state tuition, meaning that the student would have access to this sweet tuition rate only at their home-state university. That’s not the same thing as "of their choice."

Our ruling

The meme said that "in 1978, a student who worked a minimum-wage summer job could afford to pay a year's full tuition at the 4-year public university of their choice."

If you use the national average the figure is correct. The only problem is the part about a university "of their choice." The data is correct for in-state tuition -- not for any university in the country, where out-of-state rates may well have kicked up the tuition amount beyond a summer’s minimum-wage haul.

On balance, we rate the claim Mostly True.


----------------------------------------------

....and they could afford their rent, and transportation and all without Government assistance. All the more reason we need to bring the Federal Min. Wage up to par and have it set to increase along with inflation.

And they had a better can do attitude with a lack of entitlement back then,

because upward mobility was still there and flipping burgers was a looked at as a temporary job along ones journey into the work force not a lifetime career choice/trap, and mcdonalds fries and burgers tasted better too:hmm:

Give a kid a ball, glove, and a bat and they would spend hours playing till the street light came on, today they want x-box/playstation, i-phone, etc.and are temporarily satisfied until the next expensive gizmo comes out, all while looking like porky or miss piggy from the lack of exercise.

Most cars repairs could be done by the owner and whatever they couldn't tackle the mechanic could without breaking the bank,

Most people paid cash and you had a predefined list of things you bought at the supermarket, today we buy things we don't need with money we don't have (credit cards) and it ends up collecting dust soon after while we cry how broke we are.

Most companies had health insurance and you didn't have it deducted out of your paycheck, union jobs were plentiful, made in America was preferred, private sector jobs were preferred to public sector ones, etc., etc.

And one last thing that can't be quantified, people even those that struggled had a hope for the future that is rare today and also a sense of freedom that is missing for most today who feel psychologically trapped even if they are well of economically, can't explain it but it's there.

Minimum wage hikes aren't going to fix the situation because that isn't the cause of the problem.

 

[shortylickens]

My dad did.
No college loans.

He and my mom were shocked at school costs in 1997. So I joined the Navy

 

[RandomWords]

There's a few colleges (4 year universities) back in 2007 that a person was able to afford a semester (1/2 a year) plus about half of the next semester on a summers worth of minimum wage at 7.25$ (3204$ - taking out 15% for taxes)

 

[RandomWords]

So state tuition has grown more than four times faster than the minimum wage and 3.75 times faster than inflation. Edit: I should also add that one of the drivers of the cost of tuition has been Republican tax cutting.

Or college prices have increased because it has become more accessible to people and more people are going requiring larger buildings, more teachers, more cleaning staff, more land, etc etc etc.

 

[Attic]

Blame corrupt college administrators.

 

[Zorkorist]

Been there, done that.

Where are the liberals arguing that prices of education are crazy today? Oh, yes, they are arguing for more deficit spending.

-John

 

[Zorkorist]

Instead of deficit spending, we should be calling it fake spending.

-John

 

[BoberFett]

Aren't we always told how people who are getting minimum wage are supposed to lift themselves out of it by getting college education?

No.

 

[Zorkorist]

Not any more.

The American Dream is gone.

These minimum wage owners owe $50,000 to the national Debt - Their Politicians. Government FFFFatheads etc., before they even start trying to make a future for themselves.

-John


Edited for objectionable language.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[Zorkorist]

Never mind that if they want to make a product, say a competitor to ketchup, they will have to go threw millions of rounds of Government Regulation, etc.

-John

 

[Zorkorist]

Better to become flaccid, limp, accept the Government Regulations, accept Taxation, go along with the curve.

Don't make waves.

-John