The quality of a PhD hinges entirely on the person it was done for and how good that research was. It has virtually nothing to do with the institutional name on the paper. A PhD in cutting edge hypersonic aerodynamics from A&M is far more valuable than pedestrian work done at MIT, regardless of the person’s career intentions. You vet doctoral programs very differently than undergraduate programs. Hiring faculty is no different. They look at what the candidate has contributed to the literature, not where they did it at. That’s not to say there aren’t great people at the big name institutions. It just matters what one wants to do.
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