I do think that with big public universities a student often gets out of it what they put into it. I’ve known some incredibly smart, talented, skilled workers who came out of SDSU and Cal State San Marcos. But I also know those schools are easy to just sort of skate by and spend four years drinking/high.
I’d also argue the existance of schools like UCLA and USC as proof at least some universities can have it all in terms of academics and athletics and social scene. University of Michigan is another that stands out in my mind; they’ve had some dominant sports teams but it’s also academically prestigious.
All universities have gotten more academically competitive as the cost of tuition has skyrocketed. Once upon a time almost anyone with a pulse could get into SDSU, but these days spots are pretty limited there.
