That is a very interesting point. The NY Times link breaks it down and at many of the small LACs, there are a lot more students in the top 10% of family incomes than in the top 11% - 20% of family incomes.
For example, Amherst has 60% of the students in the top 20% of family income, but it breaks down to 51% in the top 10%, and only 9% in the top 10-20%. Many private colleges are similar – they have far more students in the top 10% than in the 11% - 20% range. Even many of the flagship state colleges have more students in the top 10% than in the 11% - 20% range, but the difference isn’t quite as stark. For example, U. of Iowa also has 60% of the students in the top 20% of family income, but the breakdown is 37% in the top 10% and 23% in the 11% - 20% range.
Which is probably why Bernie Sanders’ idea for free public college tuition was so popular - I suspect a lot of families with what seems like high incomes (in top 20% but not top 10%) are still struggling to afford the tuition even at state colleges and the private colleges either have limited financial aid to make those schools affordable or just admit far fewer students from that cohort. And if offered, those families opt for merit scholarships.
Edit: I didn’t mean to sidetrack the discussion but I do think it relates to the topic – which is “high end colleges vs. honors programs at state college”. It isn’t that there aren’t a lot of high performing students at many public universities (whether in honors programs or not), but overall you won’t find the high concentration of the highest income students that you do at “high end” small LACs and some larger private colleges.