A small nitpick to your comment: the most elite schools in the US are not more expensive. Schools like Harvard and Princeton are effectively free for families a

A small nitpick to your comment: the most elite schools in the US are not more expensive. Schools like Harvard and Princeton are effectively free for families at median income. Only very wealthy families pay the "sticker price". When you adjust the out-of-pocket costs by the risk of not graduating, the elite schools are even more affordable, because they offer significantly more supportive environments. It isn't out-of-pocket costs that keep poorer people out. It's more the difficulty of becoming a highly competitive applicant when you're competing with students who have far more opportunities to develop academic and leadership skills.