A lot of being successful in journalism is going out and finding the opportunities you need. FWIW, my eldest is a journalism major. Found it accidentally in college. Her school has a good program but it’s not reknowned for journalism. She has had great internships. She’s had two articles picked up nationally. She’s produced radio interviews for her local NPR station. She writes for the local papers. She’s sat down and talked journalism with 9 Pulitzer Prize winners. She does those things because she went out and found opportunity despite not being in a huge hub or in a nationally reknowned program. She chose not to minor but to take a very broad selection of classes from botany to Muslim literature to art history. She graduates with great prospects and about 7k in student loans. That’s scary enough to her based on what people are willing to pay entry level journalist.
Everyone wants the top programs and I don’t doubt the connections are helpful but if you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money. You may just need to really hustle and that will only make you a better journalist.