The challenge of giving advice for any 18 year old is that it’s so hard to know what their interests, needs, etc will be in a few years down the road. So my advise stresses having flexibility and options. The good news is that if he stays in CS, he’ll should be employed and self supporting.
Choose the best school you can afford. Better schools have better students, better professors, more rigorous curriculum, better education and more opportunities downstream. Lots of companies still recognize this. And even if they didn’t, a better education is invaluable. But my emphasis would be on what you can AFFORD. It’s not worth having $100k of debt to attend any school (unless you were Mark Zuckerberg’s roommate at Harvard
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A bigger school usually offers more opportunities than smaller ones. More course selections, majors, intern opportunities, foreign exchange programs. I also believe that non-academic considerations are important: Big time college sports, intramural sports, student clubs, more diverse student body, social life, opportunities to meet your future spouse. I believe the opportunities are all superior at a bigger school.
I wouldn’t fixate on surveys with starting salaries or mid-career salary data. There’s too many variables for it be meaningful. Anyone with a CS degree in today’s economy should do well. Focus on the other areas above