Stop the presses...USA Today has revealed a shocking new discovery: Rich kids are far more likely than poor kids to attend elite colleges. Stunning.

The article cites stats compiled by the Century Foundation, a D.C. policy institute. Among the findings:

Nationwide, nine in 10 high school graduates from families earning more than $80,000 a year attend college by age 24, compared with just six in 10 from families earning less than $33,000.... At the nation's 146 most selective colleges, only 3% of students come from the lowest socioeconomic quarter...; 74% come from the top quarter.The piece goes on to describe how some institutions---like Princeton, Harvard, UNC Chapel Hill and UVA---are beefing up financial aid programs aimed at low-income families and actively recruiting such students.

Uh, what makes this newsworthy? Elite colleges have always favored the wealthy, and over the years have indeed become more egalitarian and diverse. But we shouldn't assume that they now or ever will mirror the nation's socioeconomic landscape. After all, they're not called "elite" just because of their academic reputations.