Then vs. Now
As Excelsior College celebrates 50 years of helping adult students accomplish their educational goals, let’s travel back in time to compare life in 1971 versus in 2021
In 1971, Nixon was president and the Vietnam War was in its 16th year. It was also the year the New York State Board of Regents founded the Regents External Degree Program, what we know today as Excelsior College. The Regents External Degree Program changed the landscape of higher education with its innovative approach to enabling students earn degrees through credit aggregation and exam completion. In the 50 years since, Excelsior has continued its generous credit acceptance policies, awarding of credit, and exam options; added fully online degree and certificate programs; and recently began offering professional skills training. Excelsior’s focus on providing educational opportunities hasn’t changed over time, but many other things have!
1971: $7.10
2021: $29.81
1971: $0.33
2021: $2.44
1971: $80–$150,000
2021: Upward to $245,000
1971: Chrysler New Yorker, Lincoln Continental, and Ford Thunderbird
2021: Expected to be Kia Seltos, Toyota RAV4, and Lexus IS
1971: $1.65
2021: $9.26
1971: $4,491
2021: $54,200
1971: The Baltimore Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys 16–13 in Super Bowl V
2021: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31–9 in Super Bowl LV
1971: Physicians and surgeons at $25,000 per year, followed by managers and administrators at $12,597 per year
2021: Physicians and surgeons at $208,000 per year, followed by IT jobs like big data engineers at $159,135 per year and information systems security managers at $149,454 per year
1971: $2,930
2021: $35,801
At Excelsior: $12,240
1971: 11.4%
2021: 36%
1971: 1
First founded in Washington
2021: 32,000
Locations in 83 countries
1971: Education
2021: Business
