I have hope that 2021 is the year we stop using the word "elite" to describe some colleges.
"Elite" does not describe the ability of students. It does not describe the ability of staff and faculty. (Although no doubt, many students and employees at so-labeled institutions are talented.)
"Elite" as a label has never been about talent. It has always been about class, family income, and the experiences that class and income afford.

And if a college wants to offer both elitism and equality ... I gotta tell ya, those two things are opposites.
Most "elite" students get that way through exceptional investment in education made possible by immense family wealth: test prep, tutors, private consultants, expensive sports clubs, "volunteering" and "internships" through family connections, international travel, and more.
That's not "elite." That's privilege, and admissions and recruitment at these colleges are structured to reward it: students who can afford such experiences can usually afford the sticker prices of such institutions.
As the word gets used by media and folks within education, "elite" obscures the fact that most such institutions are actually and intentionally aristocratic.

"Meritocratic" has the same function, most of the time.
If we need to use any word for this subset of institutions, maybe that word is boutique. It hints at the immense cost and wealth of the institutions, the small size of their student populations, and it makes no judgement about the value of one type of education over another.
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