Actual research on the subject is scant, and what exists offers conflicting evidence. One often-cited study from 1998, however, concludes that attending a more selective or elite institution does not translate to an economic advantage for students later on, as measured by their reported income. Attending a more elite college does seem to affect the later incomes of poorer students. The study, written by Alan B. Krueger, a professor of economics at Princeton, and Stacy Berg Dale, then a researcher at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, concluded that the qualities that students themselves bring to their education may be what matters most.

Professor Krueger says that he and Ms. Dale are updating the study this year, with new data from more recent students. But he says he sees no reason yet to question his original conclusions. What pays off for students in the end, he believes, is not attending a prestigious or highly selective college , but finding one with strengths that match a student’s skills, needs and interests.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/business/19money.html

I suppose black students do tend to be poorer...