Student loans happened. Supply and demand. The demand went way up, because it was so easy for students to get loans for up to 50K a year. Then the price of tuition kept going up.
I was fortunate enough to get an NROTC scholarship. However, most cannot get that. The cost of tuition got so high that it is difficult for most parents to help their child.
I had a $100 scholarship every semester and earmarked it for textbooks. I’d rummage through the bookstore shelves to find the cheapest used texts to make the $$$ stretch. Sometimes, there weren’t any marked down books so I’d rush to check them out at the library because they’d have about 3 on the shelves. That was 2 weeks plus another 2 weeks for renewals. Then turn it in late at night at the end of 4 weeks and check it out the next morning to repeat. Thankfully, books don’t really change and mom had saved hers from decades before so could use her bio texts. Word for word. Only the pictures were updated.
“Fortunate” to get a ROTC scholarship?
No, no. You (like I and my brother) WORKED YOUR LOVIN’ TAIL OFF all the way through high school TO EARN that scholarship! The YOU worked real hard to KEEP that scholarship by after-hours drill and summer sessions with the ROTC to keep it active.
Then for at least the next 6 to 10 years after graduation, YOU worked 80 and 120 hour weeks PROVING your scholarship's value by serving as an officer in the Armed Forces!