But beyond the high default rates, consider what a student loan does. In the past, college degrees conferred higher incomes on those who earned them. But almo

But beyond the high default rates, consider what a student loan does. In the past, college degrees conferred higher incomes on those who earned them. But almost all of that surplus went to the student rather than the college, because aside from a small number of extremely affluent families, the students were young and did not have that much cash. If colleges wanted to expand their market, college tuition was constrained to what an average student, or their family, could pay. How far back do we have to go to get to a time when the "average [university] student" was from not an "extremely affluent" family, but still well above average?