[greedo]

40 years ago I could work a summer job at minimum wage and earn enough to pay a full year's tuition at UCSD. Doing the same thing in 2023 paid for less than 1/3 of the tuition.

[Aloisius]

That has more to do with California not funding the UC system as well as they used to.

Prop 98 in 1988 shifted funding away from UC and CS systems towards community colleges. The UC system went from about 6% of the budget to a bit over 2%.

That amounts to a loss of ~$15,000 per student in today's dollars.

[tsimionescu]

That's still inflation. It doesn't matter why the prices went up, it matters that they did.

[Aloisius]

Yes, but a summer of minimum wage today would be enough to pay for tuition at UCSD had funding been maintained at prior levels.

Notably, minimum wage in California has increased faster than inflation since 1984.

[tsimionescu]

Sure, it maybe would, but it isn't. That people are poorer than they were is still true.