I picked OSU for much the same reason... but your comment appears to agree with mine? You picked Penn b/c you have good research opportunities now, so unless faculty start jumping ship at large volumes in the near future, regular folks like you and I would have made the correct choice, no?
The article feels a bit disingenuous to me because it compares funding for hugely popular private universities to those in flyover country. If the author could provide statistics for private universities in Ohio and Pennsylvania that supported the same trend, then I would see his thesis more clearly.
You should look at the trends compared to 30-40 years ago in terms of cost, research output, etc (not amenities, undergrad dining situation, etc) for "flyover country" public research universities, not focus on just today and whatever date you graduate.
Very few things in America have been quite as good recently at convincing people without a lot of money to spend a ton of money on shit they don't need as the whole "look at our gym and amazing new dorms and beautiful new buildings" undergrad amenity wars.
The article feels a bit disingenuous to me because it compares funding for hugely popular private universities to those in flyover country. If the author could provide statistics for private universities in Ohio and Pennsylvania that supported the same trend, then I would see his thesis more clearly.