Your response to these opinions should be “what are you hoping for from a college that RIC lacks?”

Because it all depends on your POV. I was nearly 30 when I went, married, living in my own house, two classes at a time, paying mostly out of pocket and working in my industry; RIC was a perfect choice. It was affordable, local to my house in Cranston and I could be in and out. I wasn’t looking for a “social” life from my college or needed “opportunities”. I love the diversity of the school with ages and races. Was everything perfect? No - fuck RIC sometimes. But it got me where I needed to without debt.