Only my two cents on this topic. A guy goes in 2010 to Occidental College in Cal...and he pays around $125k for two years of tuition, room and board. In 2010 dollars....two years of Columbia for room, board and tuition equals approximately $140k. In 2010 dollars, two years of Harvard Law School runs $140k for tuition, room and board. Add it up for a 2010 kid.
The only way that a 1980 kid could run through all of the expenses...is a grant or scholarship, which the President has never admitted to. To have paid this off in his early 40’s? There’s a scholarship out there which he hasn’t ever talked about.
As I explained to you in a previous thread, folks going to premier schools get financial aid. At Harvard, there is little or no money for “merit scholarships,” but 70% or so of students get financial aid, which nowadays comprises nearly all grant money (my own son's package to Harvard this coming year is over 90% grants and less than 10% work study - no loans whatsoever).
For poor students admitted to high-profile schools such as Columbia, total costs imposed on the students and their families are very low.
As well, these schools didn't cost “$125K for two years of tuition, room and board.” Not in 2010 dollars, not in any dollars. Because college costs have risen much faster than the overall inflation rate for several decades, tuition, room and board at these schools was much lower, both in nominal terms and in real terms 20 - 30 years ago than it is today.
sitetest
Law school is generally 3 years.