As someone who went to an “elite” private college, realized it cost $60k a year and I would be a quarter of a million dollars in debt when I graduated, and promptly decided to transfer to RIC… there is nothing wrong with RIC. It has small classes, the professors care a lot and if you put in effort you will get a lot of individualized attention. Professors everywhere have PhDs. I loved it there, and would highly recommend it to anyone. Doesn’t have the same college dorm feel, but if you’re living off campus anyway that doesn’t matter.