Yeah but the number of Americans with at least a bachelor's degree[1] and the number of 4 year degree granting institutions[2] have both increased by nearly 50%

Yeah but the number of Americans with at least a bachelor's degree[1] and the number of 4 year degree granting institutions[2] have both increased by nearly 50% since 1990. So your median bachelor degree holder today is likely younger than in 1990 and has a degree from a less established University. If you control for age and institution (e.g what does a 40 year old with a 4 year degree from the University of Iowa earn in 1990 vs today) you'd probably see every different results. My gut says that a lot of this debt and reduced job prospects come from those 50% of institutions founded in the last 30 years. But I admittedly don't know enough about the subject to say for sure. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_... [2] https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84