Except it's not an objective fact. It's a widely held opinion, with a fair amount of strong evidence behind it, but there's nothing objective about measuring the strength of public institutions.
There's folks who profit off panic, and prophets of doom should be treated skeptically like anyone else.
Yeah, but the money paid by that small fraction of the student body is colossal.
They're not numerous enough to change any GPA/SAT averages, but they likely pay many times more in tuition & donations than the rest of their class put together. That's why they're the main focus of these places, even if their numbers are small.
It's faintly believable that the additional redundancy might involve a roll of duct tape. It's even the right color.