I think that we need to accept the fact that some people attend college, any college, as a means to an end other than actual education; Job, money, status and connections for instance.
How else to explain the amorality, the ends justify the means behavior and the susceptibility to conspiracy theories that we see in SOME of the Ivy League and service academy 'educated'?
That shit wasn't wrung out of them while compiling the grades and test scores, sufficient for admission to top colleges, from above average HS's either.
The makeup of the student bodies that you described suggests the examples I've mentioned are the exceptions and not the rule.