This timeline will track the costs of college tuition and room and board for students attending from 1975-2015. The data is courtesy of the CollegeBoard.
you're lucky. The National Center for Education Statistics Reports that about 50% of high school graduates enrolled in some kind of post-secondary education. Tuiton and fees for a private, non-profit four-year college in 2015 dollars was $10,088. The minimum wage back then was $2.10 (but put into 2015 dollars, that's about $9.50).
you were among 57% of graduating high schoolers to do so. Tuition and fees at a private non-profit four year school amounted to $13,551 in 2015 dollars, which is about 30% more than people a decade older had to deal with. Minimum wage in 1985 was $3.35. Put into 2015 dollars, that's about $7.47. Remember, the purchasing power of the minimum wage just ten years prior was $9.50.
...you were likely high income. 85 percent of high-income high school graduates went on to post-secondary education, while only 34 percent of low-income high school students did.
...you're with 68% of all high school graduates. If you went to a school like Bradley, yearly tuition and fees cost you about $25,624 in 2015 dollars, a 34 percent increase from the 90s. But if you work a part-time minimum wage job as a student, your income is $5.15. In 2015 dollars, that's $6.35.
...you're part of the 69% of high school graduates who decide to continue their education. Tuition and fees for a private-four year university is $32,405, a 25% increase. The federal minimum wage right now is $7.25. Though if you live in Illinois, you make a whopping $8.25. To be clear, the purchasing power of a minimum wage salary today is less than it was in 1975, but the price of a college like Bradley has increased by 221 percent.
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