You may be right and it could be worse than I suspect.
You don't teach at Ball State, do you? I know that there is a WIDE variation in the quality of students from one public university in CA to another. The student at CS Dominguez Hills is not the same caliber as a Cal Poly student. Same with UCSB vs. UCLA, etc. I'd guess it's the same in Indiana, but the only public university I hear getting made fun of all the time here is Ball State. I have no personal experience with it.
I don't teach at Ball State, but you could probably replace it with my campus (name witheld because I'm untenured) and no-one would notice. Party schools and fool farms pretty much follow the same template nationwide.
I will say one thing: At my university, and at most others, a student with the capacity to perform above the crowd and the initiative to use that capacity will learn a lot more than Joe or Jill Drunkbynine. I'm always looking for bright students to work on research projects, and I encourage them to go to graduate school or otherwise maximize their potential. Most of my colleagues do likewise. I have no doubt that there are good students at IUPUI, and that they are maximizing their opportunities.
Still, if you want the best instruction, go to the places with the best students. In academia, as elsewhere, the "convoy effect" is very much apparent.