A colleague of mine (Not Frum) said there’s one way to explain the issue- ENTITLEMENT.
(He wasn’t referring to the yeshiva tuition issue but I think it can be applied there as well.)
When he was growing up his parents, European refugees, where just grateful to have their lives and each other, everything else was an added luxury.
They lived in a small apartment in The Bronx with their kids. He told me of a time when his parents had to pick between a phone line and something else (I forgot what)- and they picked the other thing. Cars and vacations were out of the question.
Fast forward to the next generation. When his daughter wanted to go to college, she didn’t want to go to city college (free room and board at home as well as in-state-tuition), she was entitled to the “college experience” at $40,000 + per year. For one semester she wanted to study abroad- well, guess what? She was entitled to it.
What ever happened to having to earn something to be entitled to it? Why is it that people are entitled to everything these days just by being born?
I couldn’t answer his questions.