What could possibly explain that in neoliberal America?   And the mystery deepens:  state universities visit rich and poorer school districts in-state equally, but visit far more richer schools out-of-state.  I hate to go out on a limb, but could it be that the need for parents who can pay high tuition has something to do with this?  Maybe? 

And if that wild hypothesis were right, then the real story isn't about where colleges recruit, let alone "diversity," but about how to fund a higher education system notable for both its research output and its unusually favorable faculty-student ratios.   One solution that won't be discussed, of course, is a confiscatory tax on obscene fortunes (or just straight-up confiscation), though if it were discussed, we ought to start with funding national healthcare and social security in perpetuity first.