The so called donut hole is only a factor at the very top colleges in the country. The number of spots that extremely qualified middle class kids are losing out on due to finances, are minuscule compared to the number of such kids. I doubt there are any donut hole families whose children have no access to a decent education at all. Those kids will find a find education at public colleges and a huge range of private colleges across the country that will offer discounts in the form of “merit” aid to attract them. They can easily achieve lucrative careers in countless fields from those schools. They can also gain admission to excellent graduate schools from all of those places.
The few establishments that recruit exclusively from the top few schools represents a tiny sliver of the opportunity available. Again, its so small as to be irrelevant. Donut hole families need to let go of the idea that there are only a few schools worth attending and that somehow they have a right to a spot at those schools at some predetermined price.