From William Julius Wilson,
Nonetheless, the number of low-income students in the nation's colleges and universities remains distressingly low. In many institutions, enrollments of lower-income students have actually declined. In 2003 more entering freshmen at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor came from families earning at least $200,000 than were from the entire bottom half of the income distribution. And a study by Anthony Carnevale revealed that while 67 percent of the entering freshmen in the class of 2010 at the 193 most selective colleges came from the top fourth of the earnings distribution, only 15 percent came from the bottom half of the distribution.
Read more about the discussion of wealth and elite colleges at the Chronicle.
Apt. 11d 
I know, you’re busy; but wow, the underlying article has a very bloggable quote from the dean at Mount Holyoke saying that colleges raise tuition to attract students who equate cost with prestige. “The Chivas Regal strategy.”
I am at place that is filled with privilege and high income students, but the problem is declining now that we (finally) have need-blind admissions. That’s not a complete answer, but it’s a good start.
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Yeah, that series is excellent. I’m still reading all the articles. 36 million Americans attended college but never earned degrees. Amazing stat.
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