Full Sail's certainly in your neighborhood. In spite of all the criticism they get, they do turn out some talented individuals. A
conventional university will push you harder, give you more room to fail gracefully without burning out. FS is there to teach you and it's largely up to you and only you to get out of your education what you are capable and committed to put into it. I would say it's a better school for you if you know you are absolutely committed to what they are selling. If there's any likelihood at all you would want to
switch out to another major, your options at FS are much more limited and you'll have a hard time getting credit to transfer out to other schools. The other thing about them is that you will get an education that is targeted specifically at the technology, at the expense of the kind of higher learning of history, communications, visual arts, theater history, acting/performance, script analysis, the humanities,
etc that a liberal arts college would offer. These are not necessarily deal breakers, but they do help foster a sense of purpose and a sensibility of lighting design as an art form that you may or may not receive from FS.
UNCSA is another top tier school. More traditional to a college experience but targeted toward the arts. A few friends/coworkers of mine paid good money to go there and have received valuable educations. They've made strong contacts across the country and at a relatively young age have some wide networks of friends cutting their teeth at various high places across the industry.
May want to take a look at FSU up in Tallahassee. They've got a pretty robust program and aren't a cross-country move. Thing you want to be careful of here and anywhere with grad programs is that you want to make sure you'll get actual design experience -- that all of the real projects don't get handed to the grad students and the undergrads only get to punch buttons and hang fixtures.
Wherever you go and while on your way to getting there, get as much hands-on experience as you can. The young people in the industry who I can
point to and say they're building their resumes at a rocket pace are the ones who supplemented their education with getting out and spending as much time as possible working events, theaters, at design and/or install firms, or at production companies.
Internships, internships, internships! An expensive degree is meaningless if you anyone who would hire you needs to give you training wheels to put it to use.
In this regard, geography matters. You want a school that has a program with your focus, but you also want it to be in an area where you have venues or companies you can moonlight at or take summer internships with. Try to avoid paying rent as a barista if you can do it working at a roadhouse.