What Makes a School "Elite"?

To be clear, I’m not saying those listed aren’t elite, quite the contrary. That said there is a reason that HYPSM and no others are part of the acronym. I guess they would be the elite of the elite in a sense. To put it back into a sports analogy the consensus is that Jordan, Gretzky and Rice are considered to be the best at their respective positions, elite of the elite. Once you get into what others still call elite players such as Kobe Bryant, Jaromir Jagr, and Derek Jeter, there still results in a debate as to whether they are the best of the best.