I thought college was expensive until I looked into historical tuition prior to the modern era. Turns out our grand parents, parents, and siblings just lived in a golden age of fair wages and massively affordable and available education.

I am younger than your grandparents but I have children that range for 14-31 and I can tell you that I could afford to go to college based on what I made as a short order cook but my kids would not have been able to earn enough to even pay for school much less have enough left over for life.

It sure feels like schools have taken advantage of the student loan programs to increase fees and tuition while at the same time lowering the admission standards to put even more asses in seats.