It will be interesting to see, in 15 or 20 years, what the collective definition of elite education becomes. It is clearly related to the cultural importance afforded to it by the inertia of what was valued in previous generations and eons.

With the technological revolution that rewards innovation, perseverance, ingenuity, and quality, all produced at high pace - the role of the actual institution of education attended by someone seems to matter less than the quality of their work.

It certainly does boil back to purpose, however, in the end: are you attending because you want the name and the social networking to benefit you, or because elite educators exist in that institution? If the latter, you can still get a top education at less-than-elite institutions; if the former, however, as long as well-connected, wealthy, and powerful minds attend school together, there will always be a value to so-called elite schooling, for certain people.

For my two cents, the value of 'elite' education is increasingly irrelevant to the state of industry, innovation, and employment.