[schaketo]

Flip side - Can anyone point me to the best college(s) or university for my up and coming college students (daughters)?

what are you looking for? size, departments, difficulty, social life, cost?

I just want their brains to work upon graduation. Well rounded, not isolated from reality, but getting both sides of the story. Medium size, liberal arts, moderate to high difficulty, relative conservative social atmosphere, and medium cost state or private. Appreciate your opinions.

[ScholarWarrior]

There are no state schools that meet your criteria, IMHO.
If its colleges (not universities) you want, the following is a nice list:

Calvin, George Mason, Grove City, Hillsdale, St. John's (Md).

Let me know if you need more info.

[NewAmsterdam]

If those are you criteria you may want to have a look at the College of New Jersey. It is a state school, not necessarily conservative, but they seemed very ambitious to me and keen on actually teaching theirstudents something useful, such as reading, writing and using your brain. But please bear in mind, these were just my impressions from a one-day visit, so I may be totally wrong.