I went to a community college in the very early ‘90s. Tuition was $28. Parking permits were $25. Outrageous parking fees.
The next year they raised the tuition to $65.
You would not believe the outrage.
My most expensive textbook was $45. That was a huge expense when the rest were $12-$20.
Gen X here. The “good old days” lasted until the early ‘90s.
Then I went to a “real” college and got introduced to $100+ textbooks and yearly tuition that cost what a modest car would run.
State university tuition in the 90’s was about $1500 a semester. I worked a summer job for $6.50/hr and was able to earn about $1000 (before taxes) in a month. I didn’t work for the rest of the summer because I still wanted a bit of a summer break :) But it is absolutely possible back then to work a little part time, then full time in the summer to pay for college. Then you can bootstrap yourself into a career.
Right now, jobs don’t really pay any much more, but tuition is 10X or more. Unless parents pitch in, Its impossible for young people to get higher education w/o going into massive debt. I say go into trades and self-employment, it may be a better option nowadays!