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Is there a disadvantage in attending a college that is not well known in the general public or that few people have heard of? Particularly with regard to employment prospects when the college in on the person's resume but many employers have no idea if it's a real university or an online, or unaccredited school.
I attended a well-regarded private college with admission criteria that generally is categorized on the "highly selective" end of the continuum. It's a small college that you generally know about if you live in a really specific region or if you're a member of or familiar with a particular religious denomination that it is affiliated with. If neither of those apply, you more than likely haven't heard of it.
I've definitely been hired by people completely unfamiliar with my alma mater, as I've never lived in the region where I attended college, and only occasionally worked jobs affiliated with the faith background that's affiliated with the school, and therefore more likely to be aware of it.
I've actually almost never applied for a job and not gotten an offer, and when I have, it's been for specific reasons unrelated to school name recognition. Alma mater name recognition doesn't appear to be a critical issue in any of the fields in which I've worked, or with any of the people who've hired me. Mileage varies, dependent upon other variables.
Overall, if you present yourself successfully as an educated, articulate, skilled applicant, that is going to be what holds the most weight. Nobody's going to say, "Wow, you blew my socks off...buuuuuuuuut, I've never heard of the school you attended for undergrad, so...NEXT!" Sometimes school name recognition can help in networking, if it's a good ol' boy field. But that's still pretty minimal in regard to actually being bright and skilled and the better applicant. And networking is possible in many ways that aren't related to alma mater. I got a foot in the door at my most recent position because I knew a guy who knew my husband through the Navy, and he told me who to contact and to say he sent me. Where I went to school didn't even enter into it. And, really, if you hit a certain point in your professional life where you're still counting on alma mater-related networking or name recognition, it begs the question of why you haven't anything to show for yourself post-college, professionally speaking. The further you get from college, the less important that stuff is.
Employers can check that easily enough. An unaccredited school - yes you are likely to have a lot of issues. typically is is considered as if you did not have any degree at all. A garbage online school will be he same way (not all online schools are garbage). My wife got her masters degree online from Kent State. The degree simply says Kent State, it does not say anything about online. She has the same degree that an on campus masters student has.
Most lesser known universities have a reputation in their area. If they have a good reputation in their area, they are fine for people who will remain in their area. Outside of their reputation area, employers will look up their ranking in the field of study. However most employers know the top 50 schools in their field. If you did not attend one few them and your experience does not catch their attention, your resume will go in the middle pile where it may get a second look, but only if they have none form a school the recognize or with attention grabbing experience.
In most fields, within a few years, which school you went to becomes irrelevant. Just like no one cares what high school you attended after college. Your experience and accomplishments after college demonstrate whether you learned what it takes to excel. Also if you meet the CEO in a bar and hit it off, it will not matter which school you attended.
Most people are aware of the questionable schools like university of Phoenix. I assume you are not talking about one of those. If you are referring to decent but not amazing regional schools I can tell you several of my kids went to Universities mostly known in our area. One had to start at a lower level in a less desirable location, but then after a couple of years moved to one of the more trendy cities in the US with a much better position. Another is in grad school and may have gone to a better recognized grad school is she had gone to a more widely recognized undergrad, but for finding a job, it appears awards, publications and experience will balance out a lesser known school. I also went to a lesser known and lower ranked undergraduate school. the school is the opposite of highly selective with an 85% acceptance rate, but it still has a good reputation locally because, locally, people know the university's philosophy is to give everyone a chance to prove themselves now that they are adults, and those who are actually unfit for the field drop out or flunk out and the school provides a good and rigorous education to those who graduate. I had no problem getting into most of the top ten law schools (albeit heavily based on my test scores). However getting a job outside of our local area would likely have been quite difficult (made more difficult by a major in English)
I am not talking about schools like U of Phoenix. I am referring to brick & mortar colleges that are fully accredited, just lesser known or perhaps not well known at all.
If you look at Linkedin you'd be surprised how many people did their undergraduate at a "lesser known" school. Once you get into the work force it matters less and less. I do find that where you do your graduate degree like an MBA seems to matter more.
Texas maintains a list of fraudulent and substandard institutions whose degrees are illegal to use in Texas. An Excel spreadsheet of these "schools" can be downloaded from
If you look at Linkedin you'd be surprised how many people did their undergraduate at a "lesser known" school. Once you get into the work force it matters less and less. I do find that where you do your graduate degree like an MBA seems to matter more.
Yes, what you accomplish in your professional life becomes increasingly important as time progresses, more important than the degree you earned, where you earned it, and whether it was earned online or not. Accomplishment and excellence takes precedence over a degree.
Is there a disadvantage in attending a college that is not well known in the general public or that few people have heard of? Particularly with regard to employment prospects when the college in on the person's resume but many employers have no idea if it's a real university or an online, or unaccredited school.
There is no question that it can make a difference especially in your first job or in the type of job where you need to continually show your education background such as a consultant. I went to a state school in Pennsylvania that is almost 50% larger in undergraduate enrollment than Notre Dame. Outside of Pennsylvania, virtually nobody has heard of the state school I attended, but everyone has heard of Notre Dame and assumes it is an excellent school.
For many people it won't make a difference once they get their first job, and stay local. When I have interviewed out of state, it usually raises a question.
There is no question that it can make a difference especially in your first job or in the type of job where you need to continually show your education background such as a consultant. .
This is kind of what I've seen too. I worked at one place that only wanted to hire grads of Texas public colleges. That's because they did a lot of work projects at those colleges and had contracts with them.
If small, regional colleges not well-known outside their region, or outside niche groups, proved a severe impediment to future employment, they'd all have folded by now, and the only schools still in business would be large, brand-recognition ones.
Turns out, though, overall, product matters as much as brand, though. Matriculate capable, skilled graduates, and they largely find employment.
And, honestly, generally, if you really can't manage to find employment post-college graduation, there are very likely reasons for that other than "Nobody is familiar with the college I attended."
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