Absolutely! And that's my point! Broading access to education is a net benefit to society, because fortune prepares an able mind.

> The difference could be connections

In Ilya's case, not really. He was an immigrant twice (first USSR to Israel, then Israel to Canada), and wouldn't have been able to do an MS/PhD at UT without actually being capable - it's not difficult to enter UToronto, but it's difficult to leave with a CS bachelors degree.

I've always felt a broad access system like the Warren-era UCs along with LBJ's "Great Deal" is of better benefit for a country than investing in building isolated ivory towers for education, because we have the ability to better ourselves, and that door should always remain open.