Guess it depends on what you consider as elite. I have seen that graduates of these very top schools vet each other. There are many on CC who refer to graduates being equally successful, purely on the basis of economic means. But there are many (perhaps fading) intangibles that a hyper-elite degree confers. So while technical degrees are often substituted ( since they are based on math and science and there aren’t enough people to fill all the jobs); Try to get a job in Investment banking with an online degree.
I’m not in favor of the existing status quo. But I think Americans buy into the names and the whole bit even if they can’t afford certain colleges. So the downward pressure on prices and the need for new “offerings” won’t be like a normal product.
I think many who are in the normal stream of colleges ( the 85% of schools which are not CC and not Ivy/MIT) are going to have a hard time selling their product for the current price.