Supply at the top end is fixed. More and more people want to go to Harvard or Stanford, but it's not as though the supply of super-elite colleges has expanded.

Supply at the top end is fixed. More and more people want to go to Harvard or Stanford, but it's not as though the supply of super-elite colleges has expanded. What seems to have expanded most is a means of getting a generic "college degree". Compared to that time, there are a lot more low-end places which will accept people with a checkbook (or federal student loan) and a pulse. Also, you can even acquire the knowledge associated with a degree, but without an actual diploma (MOOCs, online learning, etc).