<p>Rocketman08: Your points on making contacts have some validity. However an advantage that an expensive elite school has over a large public school from the standpoint of contacts are the contacts that the student makes while in school. Its the students that you meet in your classes who’s parents are powerful that are the connections that are cultivated. I suspect that there is a greater tendency for wealthy powerful people to send their children to expensive elite schools than to inexpensive public schools. If you’re a typical middle class person, you’re not going to be playing golf at the same golf club as these people. These colleges are in some sense an equalizer that brings people of all socio-economic classes together.</p>