The three major reasons Americans have no financial stability anymore is because of housing, health care, and a brutal jungle of a corporate-fed job market. The housing market is skewered toward investors, so younger people at the beginning of their careers can't gain traction. Health care can bankrupt you at any age, but it makes people 50+ who face an ageist job market particularly vulnerable. And the gig economy, death of unions, and outsourcing are undermining incomes for nearly everyone. The situation with higher ed. just feeds into the gamble of will you hit the lottery and get a job good enough to buy you housing and cover your healthcare should you lose the dream job.