The issue is that while (a) society absolutely needs these programs, (b) they, by definition, can't be made available to everyone. Some people are going to get

The issue is that while (a) society absolutely needs these programs, (b) they, by definition, can't be made available to everyone. Some people are going to get in, and some are not. No matter what we do, there are going to be results we don't like, both at an individual and aggregate level. For example, it has become fashionable in liberal circles to argue for abolishing the SAT because, while it is not intrinsically racist, its results reflect our racist society: people with less access to education and tutoring perform poorly, and this results in measurable racial disparities. Problem is, the world becomes even worse without it. Under our current regime, very few people from underprivileged backgrounds can get into college and advance, but without the SAT, almost no one would be doing so.