Were university students ever genuinely an elite group? I’d be interested to know if there’s any data to suggest historical university students were somehow more extraordinary.
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In 1960, only 41% of the population had graduated from high school. (I presume not 41% of the student-age population, but 41% of the total population.) By 2022, 38% of the population had graduated from college.
Conclusion: A college degree today means roughly what a high school diploma meant in 1960 - except that it takes a lot more time and money to get.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/184260/educational-attai...
Sure, but why would that inherently relate to whether the graduates were smarter? There was less of a need or expectation to get college degrees, so most people didn't. Now there is, and so most people do. It's not necessarily that the smartest 7% were the college graduates.