The Ivy League has produced most of the supreme court, most presidents, most senators. Very few of them ever led startups or became billionaires, but that is fa

The Ivy League has produced most of the supreme court, most presidents, most senators. Very few of them ever led startups or became billionaires, but that is far from the only measure of success. That is aside from the fact that I don't see any way, fundamentally, to become something like a scientist or a physician outside of the university system. You can't run controlled experiments, especially if they require any kind of specialized lab equipment or human subjects, without fairly strict oversight, and you certainly can't go into a hospital and put yourself into rotation getting clinical experience with patients outside of being supervised by a teaching physician. There are other ways to meet these sort of dynamics outside of universities in principle. Guilds serve this purpose in some professions. But for many modern professions, the university system is the guild. It's where scientists train other scientists. It's how you get an apprenticeship. Nonetheless, not every profession is like running a business, where anyone with money is at least allowed to try.