Probably gonna get some shit for this comment, but: the rigor of a given college is often dependent on the ability/dedication of its median student. People who become tenured professors at a place like RIC are for the most part super capable, but you have to adjust the difficulty and rigor of your courses for your audience.

I have a small sample size, but I took some time off from a fancy school and took some classes at both RIC and URI while I was on leave. The classes were way, way easier than the ones at the university I got a degree from — particularly the two I took from RIC — but a lot of my classmates struggled.

In contrast, I was a completely average student at my full time university, and had to work hard for good grades, especially in STEM courses. (And in a couple cases, had to work hard just to pass a course)

So I think that it just entirely depends on what kind of student you are, what your plans are after college, how hard you want to work, etc. It’s not that RIC is “bad” but if you are a high achieving student and you like to be challenged, you might get frustrated there. RIC is also a college, not a university, so it doesn’t have as many opportunities for research. Etc.