I think the "32% of Americans have bachelor degrees" factoid is not meant to say that "everyone who gets a degree is upper-middle class" but that "a bachelor de

I think the "32% of Americans have bachelor degrees" factoid is not meant to say that "everyone who gets a degree is upper-middle class" but that "a bachelor degree is _usually_ a gate/hoop you have to get through in order to have a good chance of being upper-middle class, and only 32% of Americans get through that filter."