From the article -- "Tuitions now are twice what they were 25 years ago".
Hmm, I started at the University of Texas almost 25 years ago. Tuition has gone up by a factor of *10* since then.
(Seriously -- it was about $400 per semester back then, and now it's over $4000/semester now.)
Back then, I put myself through college. No loans. Not sure that kids could do that now
They are likely referring to inflation adjusted dollars, not absolute amounts, because you can't actually compare a dollar value from 25 years ago to a dollar value today. Those numbers just aren't equivalent. To compare them you have to include inflation.
Someday somebody has got to decide whether the typewriter is the machine, or the person who operates it.