<p>@patc:</p>
<p>I’ll address some of your points:</p>
<p>a) 4-year institutions are not and should not be in the business of job placement. US society incorrectly perceives a college education as “job training.” The role of university is to assist individuals to grow intellectually, personally, etc. In short, a good university teaches you how to think.</p>
<p>b) University is not fully responsible for the quality of students. Many state universities are required by law to accept most students that apply to them, provided they meet certain academic standards (that are generally low). Private universities do not suffer from this because, obviously, they get to set their standards. Whatever the case, many state universities hire excellent teachers and researchers and many good students take advantage of this.</p>
<p>Personally, I think a “bad” school would be a place where a freshman at any reputable university is able to teach an “advanced” class better than the local professors.</p>