Also, in the “good old days”, fewer people were even high school graduates.
According to https://trends.collegeboard.org/education-pays/figures-tables/educational-attainment-over-time-1940-2009 , the percentages of not HS graduate, HS graduate, some college, BA/BS+ for age 25-34 were:
1940 64% 22% 07% 06%
1950 51% 34% 10% 06%
1960 42% 36% 11% 11%
1970 26% 44% 14% 16%
1980 15% 40% 22% 24%
1990 14% 41% 22% 24%
2000 12% 31% 28% 29%
2009 12% 28% 28% 32%