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These issues hit younger generations much harder than older generations, who often have the safety net of home equity or retirement savings.

The Fed’s new quarter-point rate reduction, coming out of its last policy-setting meeting of the year, will give consumers a bit more relief on interest payments for credit cards, home equity lines and some other personal loans.

In one of her most highly touted initiatives, Folt directed USC to eliminate tuition for families earning $80,000 or less annually and no longer consider home equity in financial aid calculations.

Other borrowing rates, including averages for credit cards, auto loans and home equity lines of credit, all of which are at more-than-two-decade highs, have changed little recently and are likely to move down only gradually.

With median California home prices soaring past $900,000 in April, California’s housing policy choices have made homeownership a distant dream for most younger residents and for most hard-working Latino families, many of whom do not inherit wealth from their parents’ home equity and who are not on a path to pass along appreciated home equity to their children.