Think of a number and then go lower. Keep going. Lower. Lower.

Forbes reports.

Harvard’s Tuition in 1840 Was $75

The annual tuition at Harvard in 1840 was $75 a year. What if the price of Harvard over time had risen at the same rate as prices generally – that is equaled the rate of inflation? The tuition at Harvard today would be $1,703 – instead of the actual $45,278. In inflation-adjusted terms, the “sticker price” of going to Harvard has risen by over 26 times (at Princeton, it has risen even more – 48 fold).

Even at the public University of Virginia, today’s inflation-adjusted tuition for in-state students is over eight times what it was in 1840. The compounded growth in Harvard’s tuition, adjusting for changing prices, is 1.87 percent a year. Looking at universities generally, the rate of tuition increase was lower in the era before the mid-1970s (roughly one percent a year) than in the years since (closer to three percent a year).

True, incomes have risen dramatically as well. Average U.S. per capita income in 1840 was perhaps $90 a year, meaning it took about 83 percent of a year’s income to go to Harvard. Today’s tuition is about 98 percent of U.S. personal income per person. For those without scholarship aid, it is a greater financial burden to buy a year at Harvard today than it was 175 years ago – virtually the only thing for which that is true, as incomes have risen over 20 fold over time after allowing for inflation. Looking at the last generation, the tuition to income ratio has been rising.