<p>“Where does that leave the rest of us?” You forget that I started off in my first thread saying I, myself, was a product of SUNY and CUNY. In fact, that leaves the rest of us getting a good education, but not a top one. Sorry to burst your bubble, but after 26 years with a man who graduated Columbia, I can see first-hand the difference between the education he received and the one I did. The few schools that are left with a core curriculum provide a basis of understanding western civilization like no other because students are entrenched in The Great Books like Socrates, etc. few of which kids elect to take anymore. Given the choice, most kids will opt for what they like or what comes easy, especially when it come to electives to improve their GPA. They can take science for non-majors, etc. And for that matter, ivy leagues like that of Harvard and Princeton do not require that anymore as well. So that puts them, in my opinion, in the same category as the rest. They might have more famous professors, a greater endowment to offer more frills, and smaller classes for enriched discussion, but they do not provide any more of a better foundation than that of the state schools. I also happen to have 2 older kids in college right now not at ivy leagues or core schools so I see first-hand. And finally, my issue which you missed, was trying to decide whether to have my son use the money saved for undergrad or medical school. (His 3 top choices are Columbia, Chicago or Yale). We are not so rich that we can provide for both. We, too, have other kids and expenses.</p>