LESS ELITE MORE EQUAL

Harvard, Princeton and Yale boast that their incoming classes include an increasing number of students from modest backgrounds. They trumpet financial-aid programs that require zero contribution from students whose families have incomes below $65,000. But poor and middle-class students remain drops in an ocean of privilege.

In recent years, the “Ivy Plus” colleges have enrolled more students from the top 1% of the income distribution than from the bottom half. They devote vast resources to educating these already privileged students.