Actually, I don’t believe that is the case. There are still a lot of opportunities for people from lower income to attend college. You have Pell Grants and substantial financial aid, work study, etc if you get admitted to an in state school and private schools. I still believe that exists, maybe better than ever. At Stanford, for example, if your family makes below $125K, you go tuition free. If it’s under $65K, you go tuition and room and board free. Upper income students have no issues.
But the cutoffs for financial aid for middle and upper middle income families is so low at many places that it’s just not financially viable. $65K is fine in Michigan, but a family making $65K in LA or NY is lower middle class. Try sending your kid OOS for $70K/year ($5,833/month) when your take home pay off of a salary of $150,000 in LA is $8,400/month. Even an in state school in California is a stretch. Our family EFC is 63% of take home pay.