> If e.g., a student from a school in a poor area had the same quality of a K-12 education, did not have to worry about tuition (I.e., make university free again) / living expenses to be able to continue at university as the wealthy kid, affirmative action could have been phased out from higher ed.

Wouldn't AA on social-economical status work, which can be more inclusive? Even you only mentioned "poor" and "wealthy", instead of some neighborhood of particular identity group.