My C22 seriously considered LU but in the end went to Ithaca. LU is a wonderful and supportive school. I was very impressed with everything I saw when we visited. I have never worried about my kid finding a group at these smaller schools because I feel like the music department and studio provides that group from day one. He ended up not going to LU because of the trimester schedule not meshing with summer music plans and he wanted something a little bigger.
If he is still adding to the list, I would strongly recommend Ithaca College. As much as I like LU, Ithaca’s facilities are far better. I think faculty is stronger as well, but I’m sure it greatly depends on your instrument. Ithaca just hired the director of bands from UNT starting next fall – that should take the music department in a very exciting direction!