For me, my DD’s education was well worth the money spent, but that is because I value education over just about anything else. One DD went to a Top 20 public university and majored in ChemE. The other went to UChicago and is majoring in its Molecular Engineering program. The difference in opportunities is/was astounding especially in the area of research. Any school that manages a National Lab is just going to prefer its own students for internships etc. It may not matter (or it still might) which school they went to 10 years down the line but the head start given to my DD at UChicago will follow her for some time to come. Rice is definitely worth it, if it is financially feasible, or you can by a couple of new cars which will be worthless in 20 years. JMHO.