The rich kids do better is a concept beyond aviation. Sociological finding, that as a group people with golden spoons achieve "measurable" (ehm) higher goals in life than people born with no spoons at all. Success breed success, it's the upbringing and resources their families can provide, role models and responsibility patterns they learn early in life.
I respect you may not think so, and acknowledge your friend tells you stories of somewhere. I've seen otherwise living and working over there. Upon closer inspection, the P2F is a strawman. It exists but has nowhere near the attributes the scaremongers shout of.
The best 4 out of 15 industry freshmen (no matter the road to flight-deck) would have 3 well-off-ish and 1 natural talent. In a strange fate of twist now and then you realize that from the rich families (hotels, construction companies, people who own their private aeroplanes) it is the dumb apple sent to be a pilot. And still floats comfortably above average in his class.
Most of the P2F are highly respectable self-achievers who had the lucidity to weigh their options realistically and then did something about it. Not that many rich kids there actually, those would get a loan with collateral from their parents and a) do CAE Oxford b) /more likely/ chose a different vocation. Because rich does not equal stupid. Quite on the contrary, if you look with the statistical glasses on.