Sure it could, although I don't think it has yet, which is why this particular story was newsworthy. At the extreme, it's actually easier to gain admittance to,

Sure it could, although I don't think it has yet, which is why this particular story was newsworthy. At the extreme, it's actually easier to gain admittance to, say, Harvard College or Yale Law School with unusual credentials than it might be at a school ranked 25-50, because the latter are trying to prove themselves while the former know they already have it made. Harvard Business School and others have all sorts of programs for specialized constituencies, not necessarily well-educated ones (e.g. athletes). Harvard Extension educates lots of people who'd never get into an elite institution in the normal course of business. And now of course we also have the MOOC distance learning efforts. ----------------------------- Edit: Phillip Brooks House at Harvard has, in large part, a similar orientation, with lots of mentoring and tutoring of those who need it, from poor kids to prisoners. http://pbha.org/ http://pbha.org/