<p>Of the 1900 or so 4-year colleges/universities, at least 125 are great in that they offer excellent educational opportunities for their students. If you get past the fetishizing of the top-20 and start looking seriously 1) the quality of the faculty 2) academic programs 3) library/technology/facilities, you will find plenty of outstanding institutions in this country. And if you ask successful people in all different lines of work where they attended college, you will find a lot of universities come up.</p>
<p>We could debate what counts as great and discuss how some places offer more than others and how some schools open certain doors to elite settings, but in general if you are considering excellence in education there are a lot of options. A lot of people in the United States and in other countries would love the opportunity to attend any of the dozens of great colleges and universities.</p>