Good question. The existence of food stamps probably makes the tuition more affordable. Before student loans, tuition was affordable on a minimum-wage job. Houses were far more affordable before easy mortgage loans created a housing bubble. There's lots of evidence that easy money of all types causes inflation. But the food stamps cause food inflation more than they do tuition inflation, so they're likely a net benefit in this case.
"Before student loans, tuition was affordable on a minimum-wage job."
That sounds right with what my mother and other relatives say about the old days. She told me; 35 years ago she could go to a university during fall and spring. If she then worked a job or 2 during summer, she could have it paid all off. If she got a campus job as well, she could have had spending money to boot.
Same with my parents. They wouldn't pay for my college based on the belief that I could easily do it myself, after tuition growth had far outstripped general inflation for a couple decades.
