Class structures existed for centuries in America (despite being branded a classless society), but the difference now is that, because economic growth has been stagnant for 5 decades and running now (as you allude to), the middle classes have little hope of cracking into the sectors where the growth is occurring (like in high finance).
The key thing is there's nothing for these grads to do except compete with one another for a share of increasingly limited spots.
It's new in the sense that it's really the first time that Americans will have to acknowledge that one of the tool that was supposed to be the champion of social mobility (education) is no longer working well. And, that America will probably resemble the very thing it loathed: a sort of immobile society where your prospects will be increasingly determined by your parents position in society. Basically a lot like Britain, except with the veneer of American Exceptionalism.
The key thing is there's nothing for these grads to do except compete with one another for a share of increasingly limited spots.
It's new in the sense that it's really the first time that Americans will have to acknowledge that one of the tool that was supposed to be the champion of social mobility (education) is no longer working well. And, that America will probably resemble the very thing it loathed: a sort of immobile society where your prospects will be increasingly determined by your parents position in society. Basically a lot like Britain, except with the veneer of American Exceptionalism.