<p>^ You are not citing metrics (though I get that you put the word in quotes). Those are features of the school or community environment that may be important to some people, and about which anyone can have opinions. Are they important enough, and are the differences between the UC schools and UT great enough, to justify a big price premium? I don’t know, I’ve never been to Austin Texas, but it sounds like a fun place. The SF Bay area is one of my favorite places though.</p>
<p>It may have been a little gratuitous for me to toss in a discussion about California LACs, however, West of the Rockies there aren’t too many highly selective private universities (other than Stanford). My point was that some schools may be worth paying a price premium over a solid in-state public, for some people. I just don’t think those schools are very likely to include any of the UCs when the alternative is Texas-Austin at in-state rates. In my opinion, if you are a Texan interested in California schools, it is easier to justify paying a premium for a selective private LAC than for any of the UCs, and the premium you pay is likely to be much smaller after aid. If LACs have any appeal to you, that is. If you are a computer science wiz, or for a few engineering fields, Berkeley might be worth paying more than Texas. For public transportation or “energy”? I don’t think so.</p>