“As an employer, it does not matter from whence the degree was conferred. (within reason) There is fundamentally no difference between a ‘Prestigious’ school and an otherwise competent school when you are out in the work world.”
I depends on the job. Goldman Sachs would never interview someone from Illinois State unless there was a hook or connection. Meanwhile, Goldman recruits actively from Ivys + Stanford, MIT etc… and leading LACs. Arguably 10 years out I would agree that its your job accomplishments that will determine your next career move, but sometimes just getting in to some of the best jobs its all about the school you are going to. I am sure there are other high paying positions that could hire you from a mediocre State school that has a strong program in some particular field, but its not going to be a blanket seal of approval. If you go to Harvard and you major in ethnomusicology and you have an interest in finance, you can probably get your resume looked at by someone at Goldman, just saying… if you went to State XYZ and had a 4.0 in finance chances are the Goldman guy would just toss your CV in the circular file. Been there. Done that.