A new study based on tuition records and tax filings revealed that elite colleges are even more exclusive than they appear.

According to the study, Ivy League schools and several other elite colleges in America enroll more students from the top 1 percent than from the entire bottom 60 percent.

Affordability has become a popular talking point among universities, particularly highly selective ones. However, that focus on affordability does not mean access to these selective schools is expanding.

“Free tuition only helps if you can get in,” said Danny Yagan, assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Despite expanded Pell grants given to students in the bottom 40 percent of income distribution, which make it seem that schools are more economically diverse than they are, the schools, themselves, have not significantly encouraged diversity.

To read the full report in The New York Times, click here.