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Tuition has outrun almost every long-horizon asset class in the U.S. economy since the 1970s. Has silver kept up? The chart compares silver against average in-state tuition + required fees at 4-year public institutions (NCES), indexed to 100 at the displayed start year.
About 270 ounces — silver was ~$1.55/oz and tuition was ~$437/year. Today those numbers are very different; the chart's ranges show the trajectory.
Briefly, yes. The Hunt Brothers spike pushed silver to ~$50/oz in early 1980 — at the time, that was enough silver value to cover ~3 years of in-state tuition. The spike collapsed by mid-1980.
It's the most-used reference point in education-cost comparisons and has the cleanest long-horizon NCES series. Private and out-of-state are higher in absolute terms but the trajectory shape is similar.
median U.S. home prices (Case-Shiller)
S&P 500 total return — price + reinvested dividends
consumer price index, all urban consumers (BLS via FRED)
4-year public, in-state tuition + required fees (NCES)