Student loan debt in the US reached a record high in 2019, with over 44 million borrowers owing $1.5tn. A 2014 Facebook meme claimed that in 1978, a minimum-wage summer job could pay for a year’s tuition at a public university. Politifact found this to be mostly true, but only for some state institutions.
In 2019, student loan debt hit an all-time high. In the United States alone, there are now more than 44 million borrowers who owe a total of $1.5 trillion in student loans, making it the second-largest category of consumer debt. In 2014, a meme circulated on Facebook pointed out the disparity between today’s students and those in higher education in the late 1970s. The post claimed that in 1978, a student working a minimum-wage summer job could earn enough money to afford a year of “full tuition at a four-year public university of their choice.” Politifact tested the claim and found the statement to be “mostly true,” with the caveat that the statement would be true for tuition fees at most state colleges and universities.
The high cost of higher education:
Using the 1978 minimum wage of $2.65 USD and calculating earnings for 13 weeks, at 40 hour weeks, Politifact determined that a college student in a full-time minimum wage job could have earned $1,378 during the summer of 1978 .
Using federal data, they determined that the median cost of tuition (plus taxes) that year was $688 USD for in-state residents attending a public college or university. But because that figure was the national average, some state institutions were more expensive.
Additionally, adding the cost of room and board to the tuition amount resulted in an annual cost of $2,145 USD, more than a student could earn in a minimum wage summer job. The statement also assumes that the students would have been able to find full-time summer jobs.
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