STEM salaries for undergrads from USA vs. grad degree from USA with international undergrad degree

I would disagree with that. There really isn’t much to differentiate most CS programs, other than maybe specialty tracks and class sizes. I’ve been a programmer for over 30 years, and it’s pretty near impossible to find any correlation between how productive a programmer is and where they went to school. They teach you theory and some basic skills in an undergrad CS program, but the skills that employers really want tend to be either self taught or learned on the job.

Most hiring managers don’t get caught up in CS rankings. I’ve never gotten into a discussion at work about university CS rankings or which schools have the best CS programs. It may be easier to get an interview right out of college if you’ve gone to MIT or Stanford or Carnegie-Mellon, but you still have to pass the interview. After your first job, it’s your skills and experience that count.