My first job, at 16 and with an employer who chose to ignore child labor laws, paid $2. That was a 40 cent premium over minimum wage. It doesn’t sound like much now, but it bought better than six gallons of gas. I had to work about 350 hours of work to pay for one year of in-state tuition and fees. Most of my money back then went to cruising and saving for college, and I was able to cover 90% of my undergraduate expenses.

One hour at a minimum wage job today won’t buy two gallons of gas. Annual tuition and fees at UGA runs about $9,500 per year, or the equivalent of about 1,300 hours of minimum wage work. There is no way for a kid today to fund his/her own education and graduate with zero loans unless that individual receives serious parental help. (Tuition at Agnes Scott is over $33 thousand. One would have to work over twelve years full-time at a minimum wage job to pay for four years of tuition plus room and board there.)