I think there are two main benefits that you get from a college education. The first is your personal growth: what you learn from your courses, what you learn

I think there are two main benefits that you get from a college education. The first is your personal growth: what you learn from your courses, what you learn about yourself, what you learn from your classmates. The personal relationships you make with faculty and with other students that last past your graduation. Like stdcredzero said, this is all about the people and the environment. The second benefit is the few seconds of recognition you get when a new acquaintance or a potential employer finds out that you studied X at college Y, and they think "ah yes, that's a good college" (or alternatively, "I've never heard of it"). If you play your cards right, the first benefit should vastly trump the second one. Unfortunately, the second benefit is much easier to quantify when you're choosing colleges. Ideally, I guess, you would get both, but that's not always possible. Within reason, list price should be the least important criterion. At most, it should be a tie breaker.