A twist in this conversation is that while some institutions have prestige, other institutions have the reverse, a reputation for being over-priced and catering to mediocre students.
I did feel Hofstra was disappointing when I went for graduate classes, but my experience aside, some schools do have to deal with negativity even when they may have unknown strengths.
Specifically on Long Island and the NYC area, schools like Adelphi, CW Post and Hofstra are struggling with negative perception locally and have reacted by marketing to more out of state and foreign students.
It’s not that everyone here believes you need to spend a lot to go to a school with a good reputation. It’s just that SUNY and CUNY schools like Queens College, Hunter, Baruch, Brooklyn College and Stony Brook are held in much higher regard—have much more prestige—and are reasonably priced. And with the new Excelsior Program, are free for many local students. All of these schools now have dorms for those who want to live on campus or nearby.
So how does a school’s reputation that skews towards the negative—party school, easy schools, etc—effect a student’s outcome career-wise and for grad school?