re: I don’t get why it is more costly for colleges to educate students now vs the 70s/80s

Let's see, the federal government dumped billions of dollars into the college education system with easy to obtain student loans and you're wondering why costs have escalated? Gee, it's a mystery.

Next you'll be asking why medical costs have skyrocketed after trillions of Medicare/Medicaid/Prescription Drug Benefit dollars have been soaked into the healthcare industry.