The Aquafarm costs about $60, depending on what promotions they have running at the time. For that price, I think it's a definite buy if you have any interest in gardening or aquaponics. It's also a great gift for a garden lover.
However, students who attend lower-ranked schools can still take a rigorous curriculum. Wherever you go to school, it's important to take the most advanced courses available and to take advantage of elective credits to strengthen your engineering education.
The one factor that I think is most important in predicting how a student will do in school is the family of the student. If the student has two parents, married to each other, and who encourage the student and stress the importance of education, odds are the student will do well. Whatever the race or income.