There are three main purposes which higher education holds in todays society, surprisingly different people value different aspects differently.
Right of Passage
College is a big party. It is a transition from childhood to adulthood. It is a taste of freedom, and perhaps of responsibility as well. Having fun is a big part of college, growing as a person is a big part of college, figuring out what you want to do and who you want to be is a big part of college.
Education
Some people go to college to learn. The classes and programs offered, the professor's mastery of the material being taught, the resources/equipment available, and the ability of the professor to effectively communicate the material all factor into the quality of education received. Liberal arts colleges such as Richmond have a huge advantage over large research institutions in this regard. At liberal arts colleges the primary duty of every professor is to teach undergraduates, and their evaluation is based heavily on this criteria. The quality of the professors in terms of teaching ability tends to be very high at liberal arts colleges. At research institutions the primary duty of professors is to bring in grant money, teaching is inconsequential. The quality of professors at large research institutions is very hit or miss, and while the professors are very intelligent they are often not good teachers or simply don't care enough to teach well. Class size plays a big role in a professor's ability to communicate material effectively. In small classes a professor can adjust the material, pace and teaching strategy to individual students which is impossible in the large lectures common at big state schools.
Networking
"It's not what you know, it's who you know." Making friends is a huge part of the college experience, and if a lot of your friends from college go on to be successful or come from successful families they can help you out. If a lot of alumni have been successful, they can help you out. Getting a job is the next step after college, and the quality of your job has a huge impact on your life. Making connections is a very important.
So how does Richmond compare to the Ivies in these three aspects? As a right of passage, I could not have imagined a better experience than the one I had at Richmond. I am sure that many people feel this way about the college they attended, almost every school is excellent in this regard.
In terms of education, the quality of the education itself sees very little drop off until you get to ~50th liberal arts college. There is a glut of extremely intelligent and capable PhDs out there and very few professorships available. In terms of the raw potential to educate yourself and the resources available (in terms of programs, professors, classes etc) there is not much of a difference between top 50 liberal arts colleges.
Networking is where the main value in an ivy league education lies. You are going to school with people from the wealthiest most well connected families in the world, you are going to the same school as tons of people who hold high power positions in companies across the world. The amount of money and power concentrated in the student bodies and alumni of these schools is immense, and Richmond certainly does not compare (though we are really not doing too bad ourselves.)
