That is a lazy explanation. It is incumbent on a few expensive colleges to fix a society-wide problem of equitable access to education, nutrition, experiences,

That is a lazy explanation. It is incumbent on a few expensive colleges to fix a society-wide problem of equitable access to education, nutrition, experiences, and so on? Elite universities are the tip of a massive iceberg and they already have programs to offer full free rides to otherwise eligible students that can't afford it. The problem starts based on leisure time to parents when their kid is 1 year old and being able to read to them (and having access/time to get to libraries or buy books). It then comes in from having money to buy houses in places with good school districts (which are usually funded by property taxes, so those are inextricably linked in the current setup). Then it comes paying for extracurriculars, summer programs, test prep, and in some cases private schools with better academics and student:teacher ratios. After 20 years that adds up and you see inequity (across the board, to be clear, at private college levels, not just the ivies) at college admission levels. You can't throw a bandaid at the top of the problem and wipe your hands of it, and a microscopic manifestation of the problem can only do so much to fix it. Ivy Leagues don't sit around worrying about their brand, they already have the best students in the whole world applying and they only admit a few percent of them. And you can easily pay more for a degree: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-50-most-expensive-colleges-in-america/45/ https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-50-most-expensive-colle... so it's not an issue of cost.