Not true. When I got out of the Army in '72, I got an entry-level job as an electronic technician making $680 per month. (That seemed like a fortune at the time, since in the army I was making $250 per month.)
My rent (a house with two yards and an ocean view) cost $150 per month. New cars could be had for less than $3000. Income taxes were next to nothing. Ground beef was 19 cents per pound. Regular gas was 32cents/gal. Coors was $1.32 per six-pack.
Oh yes, health insurance for my family of four was totally paid by my employer.
I had at least half of each paycheck left over each week to blow on whatever I wanted.
After getting a BSEE and a lifetime of hard-to-get experience, I would still be making the same hourly wage as I was back then - if I could find a job, that is.
Of course not.
This legend in his own mind is another of those who thinks the universe, history and economics began right after he was potty trained.
For whatever it's worth, I know for a fact that anyone wishing to go to college in the mid-50s did so. Most of my high school mates did.