Does "brand" name matter when choosing a college or university?

tracking on the regional accrediation...my question poses another route. Do employers look at the name of the school vs hiring you i.e. Colgate University vs North Central College

Why regional vs national? I was always told the opposite. I need some education in this. It was my understanding the National was always accepted as opposed to regional. Maybe I've misunderstood this.

SSG, I think it has to do with what you are majoring in. For my bachelor's, I knew I wanted to teach in the Nashville area. I chose a school that had a great reputation in the area for producing excellent teachers. I knew that schools desired teachers from this school. The school was obviously accredited. While it was not a nationally popular college ("name brand") - although it is always in the US News and World Report's annual ranking- I chose it for these reasons.

The following are the regional accrediting agencies for educational institutions in the United States:[4][5]

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, as well as schools for American children in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

New England Association of Schools and Colleges - Educational institutions in the six New England states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont).

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.


Northwest Accreditation Commission for primary and secondary schools and Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities for postsecondary institutions in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas.

Western Association of Schools and Colleges - Educational institutions in California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Micronesia, Palau, and Northern Marianas Islands, as well as schools for American children in Asia.

I agree sir, I'm very familiar with Rice, as it is in the medical center area of Houston, excellent running trails around the campus!

Great jogging trail - and the weather in Houston prepares you for anything. 130 degrees in Kandahar felt good compared to a Houston spring.

You got that right sir, also watch out for the traffic...lol

For an undergrad, I would say that it helps in the civilian world, but it is not necessary to have the brand name. However, when pursuing an advanced degree, it depends on how you intend to market yourself and if your degree will be a "check-the-box" or something that you leverage to develop your network and credibility.

It does depend to some extent on where you are in your career. A career professional of 20+ years may just check-the-box and be fine, whereas someone earlier in their career who is developing their own identity may want that Big 10 or SEC (for example) school.

I've been to a few Army PAs who said things that I know are factually wrong. Sadly, the quality off the education doesn't come into play when the Army just checks the type of degree on the diploma. I had a PA last year prescribe me vitamin D because I'm light skinned and claimed that african americans don't need D supplements because the pigment "soaks up the sun". Completely reverse of actual facts.

And, ironically, the reason that african americans show up as low on vitamin D on blood tests is that we measure the sequestering protein, not vitamin D itself. If you live in a very sunny environment, you evolutionarily shed that sequestering protein because there's ample sunlight. Those of us from northern climates need to sequester to maintain relevant levels during winter season. So darker skinned people show D deficiencies because they don't have the protein that stores vitamin D, not the vitamin D itself.