Education itself has huge vale: anyone willing to do CS degree is pretty much guaranteed $100k+ salary. In Europe you can get the degree for free / peanuts. Paying for "brand" offers no additional measurable skills / knowledge, it buys you prestige.
What you refer to as "access to network" is mostly cronyism. Paying Harvard fees is essentially buying into the right group of people (rich & powerful) who are vested into this cycle of elite recycling via hiring only "insiders" for best roles. I can't speak for US, but in UK it's been proven this happens a lot.
What you refer to as "access to network" is mostly cronyism. Paying Harvard fees is essentially buying into the right group of people (rich & powerful) who are vested into this cycle of elite recycling via hiring only "insiders" for best roles. I can't speak for US, but in UK it's been proven this happens a lot.