College costs: 1980
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Adjusted to 2014 dollars: The median U.S. household income in 1980 was $50,881, with families spending 14.9% of their income on public university ($7587 sticker price, annually) or 32.1% on private university ($16,339 sticker price, annually).
Also in 1980...
- The United States Olympic Hockey Team defeats the USSR in the Miracle on Ice
- U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces the boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow
- The eruption of Mount St. Helens kills 57 and causes $3 billion in damage
- "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" is released
- Pac Man is released in Japan
- The first 24-hour news channel Cable News Network (CNN) is launched
- A record number of viewers tune into "Dallas" to learn who shot JR. (it was Kristin)
- Led Zeppelin breaks up due to the death of drummer John Bonham
- "Kramer vs Kramer" wins Best Picture
- The #1 song of 1980 is "Call Me" by Blondie
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