Ok. That's what I was worried about - we're talking past each other because we're defining words differently. Can't get very far in a conversation like that.Well, equal rights would ensure that anyone can apply for a college of their choice and nothing more. An equal opportunity would be a governmental program to assist deserving applicants financial assistance for that college degree.
The benefit for society is that college educated people pay 2.5X more in tax money on average over their working lifetimes than just high school educated people.
For the record, in the past, when I've said "equal rights", I meant equal universal liberties. They're the same for everyone, no matter who you are, how much money you have or your station in life. I've always seen "equal opportunity" to mean essentially the same thing - government won't erect any artificial barriers based on who a person is.
Going forward I'll use "equal liberties" rather than "equal rights", for clarity sake.
Your version of equal opportunity sounds to me more like equal outcomes. The cruel irony of that, is that the only way government can ensure equal outcomes is to violate equal liberties. The two concepts aren't compatible.