It is on topic. Minimum wage has NOT followed inflation or the cost of living or tuition. When I was in university (1989 - 1994), it was possible (some of my roommates did it) to work 20 hours per week and get by with paying for tuition and room/board. There's just no way to do that today without amassing a lot of debt. As diving locally requires a car, that's another hurdle. The compartments (ahem apartments) I see being built these days in parts of Seattle just don't make storage possible.Thanks for the info, I didn't know. But I still do not get your system; it's competitive in a useless way, and it is an obstacle for social mobility. As @wetb4igetinthewater said, 8 countries in Europe offer zero-to-very-low fees. Even other countries offer very low fees compared to US for top tier university (I used to pay 2k€ per year at POLIMI, mechanical engineering, which is ranked 15th in the world at that time by QS, 6th in Europe). Although there can be performance requirement to be admitted, they are not so high - almost anyone has a possibility.
Anyway, put in this way it is so much OT but it's an interesting topic - if you want we can continue on PM.
However, if you consider that young people have to face problems for getting educated, plus problems to find a job with a decent salary, plus they cannot buy a house, plus scuba equipment is expensive - well, it is not OT anymore, in a way...
Diving just isn't as easy when starting out today as it was for me when I finished university in the mid 90s.
I'm gen X. In the US, my generation and previous generations, have screwed over millennials and gen Z in the US with letting a system go unchecked. And I have absolutely no practical suggestions on how to address this.
This isn't a rant, but my observation, and it is relevant to people getting into diving. There are many sports that people can do at relatively low cost, though most activities, there is no limit to what one can spend.