Small versus big doesnt matter much- However prestige does matter somewhat since prestigious schools have better faculty, research and top companies visit the campus. Austin is surely more prestigious (ranks 8 in CS/CE) than RPI which is more prestigious than SB- however they come with price tag- 150K more at Austin compared to 100K more at RPI, assuming SB is Zero (Actually, SB is 40K, RPi/NYU/Northeastern and similar school around 150K and Austin/Urbana/Michigan/Georgia and similar schools around 200K for 4 years).
Bottom line, is Austin prestige worth 150K more and RPI 100K more than SB- Assuming a good student will perform pretty well in all these schools (perhaps better at SB due to less competition than RPI or Austin where they may have top notch students).