If you want to program in the industry, the name on your degree doesn't help you much. I couldn't justify paying for the big-name private university that accepted me, so I got a BS in CS from The College of New Jersey, and have since been fortunate enough to work at Google. I also paid off my student loans within 10 months of graduation. If you go this route, and do extra work on the side, you might get the same education you could at a top university. But you will have no help. A difference I didn't appreciate when I was 17 is the support structure a big-name university provides. They already have contacts everywhere, plus you're more likely to be surrounded with self-starters and high-energy workers. If you need help, you might get it.
But if you want to work at a top research university, you might want to get the biggest name on your degree you can. I know a few PhDs who complain that degrees flow downhill - they feel they must get jobs in the industry, since they have degrees from second-tier schools. When they came to the USA, they viewed an economically-priced degree as the better deal. But there is a glut of people with degrees from top universities who are looking for research positions, so they believe theirs don't come up for consideration.
I agree with this. It largely depends on where you want to take your career. I don't have a CS degree from $BIG_NAME, never had to take out a loan, and am very happy with my career thus far.
If you want a top research position, yes, $BIG_NAME CS degree is almost required. If you want to work for Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc... It helps, but certainly isn't required. If you want to work for a startup or any other company, it doesn't matter at all.
What matters is that you know your shit. $BIG_COMPANY isn't going to turn you down because you don't have a CS degree from Stanford even though you wowed them with your knowledge. All they care about is that you are you smart and gets shit done. That doesn't come from a degree, that comes from you.
If you want to program in the industry, the name on your degree doesn't help you much. I couldn't justify paying for the big-name private university that accepted me, so I got a BS in CS from The College of New Jersey, and have since been fortunate enough to work at Google. I also paid off my student loans within 10 months of graduation. If you go this route, and do extra work on the side, you might get the same education you could at a top university. But you will have no help. A difference I didn't appreciate when I was 17 is the support structure a big-name university provides. They already have contacts everywhere, plus you're more likely to be surrounded with self-starters and high-energy workers. If you need help, you might get it.
But if you want to work at a top research university, you might want to get the biggest name on your degree you can. I know a few PhDs who complain that degrees flow downhill - they feel they must get jobs in the industry, since they have degrees from second-tier schools. When they came to the USA, they viewed an economically-priced degree as the better deal. But there is a glut of people with degrees from top universities who are looking for research positions, so they believe theirs don't come up for consideration.