<p>Leaving aside whether I agree or disagree with the flat assertion that your alma mater will accelerate or decelerate your corporate climb, I would have to say that the answer to your question is “it depends.”</p>
<p>Clearly any state flagship university falls into the “reputable” category as do the top national and master’s universities as reported by USNWR. It gets fuzzier when you get to regional and liberal arts colleges–a school like Humboldt State has an excellent reputation for certain fields and is generally better known in the Pacific NW and northern CA. Even fairly obscure schools can develop a reputation for preparing graduates well for jobs in specific industries. </p>
<p>It has been covered extensively on this board in the past, but in some regions of the country a state flagship degree may open more doors than a degree from a top liberal arts school such as Amherst or Williams. In Alabama, a degree from U. of A or Auburn is reputable; in Honolulu a degree from University of Hawaii may be fine; take that same degree to Seattle where you compete with graduates of University of Washington for the same jobs and hiring managers may dismiss those schools as “party schools” on the basis of a vague sense that they have big football programs or that kids go to Hawaii to surf and hang out.</p>
<p>Anyway, it’s kind of a vague and general statement and I’m not sure it’s useful to try to analyze it, as there are so many other variables at play than just a school’s reputation.</p>