Questions that cut through the brochure

Four that work on either kind. What proportion of teaching is delivered by permanent academic staff? What is the real class size in the modules I would take, rather than the institutional average? What do graduates of this specific course do next, and where is that published? And is the institution recognised on the national register — a question with a public, checkable answer.

Ask all four of a public and a private institution and you will find the answers vary far more by place than by sector. A place that answers all four plainly, with sources, has told you something good about itself regardless of how it happens to be funded.