It seems like you're asking two different questions at the same time: how good the education is at lower tier schools vs. higher tier schools, and where the brand name will get you in jobs, networking, etc.
I'll just speak to the first question because I'm hopeless at networking.
I took college classes at [Party School State U] in my hometown at middle school age, and later attended [Prestigious U] at the customary age (I undid my skips out of a desperate desire to be normal). The level of instruction at Prestigious U was much, much higher in general. A lot does depend on the professor, however; when I took data structures at Prestigious U, a new professor had just taken over that class, and he reduced the level a lot compared to the previous professor (a classmate who had taken it two years before looked at what I had to do for the class, and said it was laughable in comparison). That class was on par with the computer science classes I took at State U.
But a student who is interested and motivated can probably create a valuable educational experience for themself at any university. There are always things like independent research even if most classes are a snooze.
