Affordability has recently emerged as one of the central economic and political issues in the United States. Polling data suggests that many Americans feel that core components of a middle-class lifestyle have become increasingly out of reach. A college education is one of those components. Indeed, between 1990 and 2024 the prices of many items have increased faster than median earnings, including housing costs, health care, and gasoline. But the item whose price has risen the most is college tuition. Presumably, that contributes to Americans’ views that education is the least affordable.
