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<p>The schools do have motivation to improve the “quality” (academic stats) of their students as well as get the most tuition revenue from them; improving the “quality” tends to raise prestige and desirability, so that future students of similar academic stats may be willing to matriculate at higher net prices. So bringing in a bright student from a poor family with financial aid and scholarships may be a better long term investment for the school than bringing in a marginal student paying list price.</p>
<p>The “social justice” stuff is, of course, marketing to whomever the college feels it needs to market itself to (potential applicants, alumni, others).</p>