Some students live on campus, some live off. The vast majority of both end up perfectly fine, and I doubt either ends up better than the other.
Some students go to private schools, some go to public schools. The vast majority of both end up perfectly fine, and adjusted for demographic date, I doubt either ends up better than the other.
Some students go for four years to one school, some students transfer between schools (either from a community college or from another 4-year school that wasn't the right fit). The vast majority of both end up perfectly fine, and adjusted for demographic data, I doubt either ends up better than the other.
In a very few industries, a school's network and reputation can matter more than perhaps it should, but in the vast majority of industries and companies, it really doesn't count for much, particularly after that first job. And 99.5% of people work in the industries where it doesn't particularly matter, so some on the Dis are giving way too much power to the small segment of industries where it matters.
There are fewer than 50 truly elite colleges and universities in this country and millions of intelligent young men and women, and those intelligent young men and women generally do just fine wherever they end up, as long as they give it their best shot. There is way too much obsession, including I'm embarrassed to say at times from me, with "prestige" over "fit" and "where do I want to go." I'm trying to break that habit, because I've learned enough over the past few years to know I'm wrong and looked pretty foolish and pretentious, and I hope others will try to grow up, as well.
In even those most snooty of industries, I have never heard of prospective hires being screened for whether they lived on campus, off campus, or at home. I cannot even fathom that. Yes, there can be a value to the friendships that are built up in a dorm (some of my best friends were my roomates/housemates in my first year), but students who don't live in a dorm build those exact same types of relationships in other ways and it is absolutely ridiculous to think that they do not and cannot.
The thing that I do think is very important, and too often is undervalued when looking at schools, is the ability to graduate with the degree of one's choosing in 4 years (or the appropriate length of time for degrees that take a longer time), as regardless of the school, wasting 2-3 extra years on a degree drives up the cost hugely, both in extra tuition and in lost income from starting your career. But there are schools of every shape and size that do that well, so to try to lay out a one-size-fits-all rule for college attendance is silly.
