Yale endowment fund... Can't more be done to help the world?

I'll skip to the punchline. The answer to the question above has to be a resounding yes. 

With the news last week of David Swensen's passing, the spotlight has been shown on the outrageous nature of the endowment funds at prestigious universities. Listen, what Mr Swensen did to revolutionize the way rich universities are able to deploy their assets and grow their endowments has to be applauded. Yale is sitting on over $30 billion, Harvard on $40 billion+, and the number 10 university, Northwestern has over $10 billion. Although the elite private universities dominate the list of largest endowments, some notable public universities also have large investment portfolios, such as the University of Texas, University of Michigan and University of California (all in the top 12). 

Top private universities tout how they are ready to provide financial assistance to anyone who needs it, and those same schools claim to even completely waive tuition for the lowest income households. In addition, they often provide statistics how it might actually be cheaper to attend those schools than for a student to enroll at their state's public school. All that is great.

Yet here is the rub. With acceptance rates having plummeted to the low single digits at elite schools and very low double digits at the public ones, it is getting virtually impossible to attend those universities. A student needs to either be truly exceptional or have won the lottery to be accepted these days. Not to mention that children who come from the top earning households in this country make up the largest share of students enrolled at elite universities, while those from the middle class actually make up the smallest share. American dream be damned, let's help the entrenched get richer while leaving the bottom half buying more lottery tickets in the hope of moving up the social mobility scale (and anyone who knows the basics of financial literacy can tell you that lottery tickets aren't a great deal).

In this day and age of technology, and after a year + of majority online schooling, it seems to me that this is a great time for universities to make a change. Yes, it's true that more are offering courses for free, available to anyone with a computer and internet connection. This is a good first step, but unfortunately it is an imperfect substitute for a traditional 4 year degree from the same institution. Enrollment at most universities has stagnated for decades. The graduating class at most elite schools this year will be no bigger than it was in the 1990s when I finished my undergraduate degree. Yet more children than ever before are ready to attend university. It should be easier than ever to offer larger classes through a combination of online and in person education. Shouldn't the children of today begin to benefit from David Swensen's wonderful advancement in university endowments. Let's build on his legacy and open the doors to more students who are adequately qualified to attend these schools rather than being proud of rejecting 90%+ of those that apply. Thanks!