That's almost exactly what I was thinking. Anybody with decent grades can get into the local branch of their state school, live with their parents/friends, and

That's almost exactly what I was thinking. Anybody with decent grades can get into the local branch of their state school, live with their parents/friends, and graduate with minimal debt. It's not as sexy as going to a big name school and living in the dorms, but it's a lot smarter in the long run. It's especially true in a field like Computer Science, where it's so easy to impress people with results. To most people a degree from MIT means a lot less than a profile of impressive projects, and the projects don't cost an arm and a leg.