The actor, James Garner, died this month at age 86. His big break was the role of the poker playing Bret Maverick in the ABC TV program, “Maverick.” The show ran from September, 1957 to July, 1962 which roughly overlapped my undergraduate years. (Garner left the series after three seasons.)

Every Sunday night at 7:30 pm every guy in the dorm gathered in the lounge in front of the TV set to watch Bret outfox his latest opponent and win the girl—who often as not was a floozy. Garner’s character was arguably television’s first anti-hero. He avoided direct confrontation and was notoriously reluctant to risk his life. He wasn’t a fast draw with a six shooter, but he was undefeated with his fists. When “Maverick” was over, the lounge emptied out.

Three of my grandchildren are off to college next month. They will be attending three different state universities. Only the sticker prices are similar—about $25,000 per year.

I’m struck by the stark differences between the days of “Maverick” and now. Our student lounge had a wooden table and a 19 inch black and white TV. There were some wooden chairs and a few dozen metal folding chairs leaning against the back wall. Laundry service was a couple of machines (twenty-five cents) in the basement. The machines did not send a text when their task was completed. If you wanted your laundry folded, you did it yourself. The idea that the dorm could have been coed was laughable. There was no $100,000,000 fitness center with a climbing wall. The university president didn’t have a personal chef or access to a corporate jet.

Yet those Bachelor’s degrees we managed to eke out for less than $5000 were effectual. We graduated and got jobs with Fortune 100 companies launching our careers. In today’s economy good jobs are few and far between. The choice of a major, good grades, and a sound financial plan are essential if a college student is going to “thread the needle” and become financially self-sufficient.

Maybe the most important lesson was that, although “Maverick” was an underdog, i.e. “The Ed Sullivan Show” dominated Sunday night ratings, Bret showed up thirty minutes early and won the day.