"The larger question on the senators' minds was whether private colleges and universities are abusing the public trust. After all, they pay no taxes on tuition revenue or on the income from their endowments, of which Harvard boasts the largest -- $35 billion, which has lately been earning around $5 billion a year. In order to keep their tax-exempt status, other nonprofit institutions (charitable foundations, for example) are required to give away a hefty percentage of their money. Hospitals are required to care for indigent patients. But what, exactly, are colleges doing to justify their public subsidies?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/magazine/30wwln-lede-t.htm...
And I don't think anyone would naively argue against all nepotism. But would you have guessed that twice as many non-qualified students get in based on their family than on their race? The popular debate has made the latter seem much more prevalent, as if minorities were solely responsible for squeezing out qualified whites.