I think any university could prepare someone for grad school. Your GPA and GRE or GMAT if going business will matter - as will work experience. And it depends on the kid themselves - are they going to class or volunteering for research, etc.
Any leading university will have a solid economics department and if the student is willing to step up, they’ll find a place in grad school.
If you look at Harvard or Yale Law, for example, you’ll find the Ivies - but you’ll also find the Boise States.
Even if you look at PHD, that degree may be Cornell but the undergrad Indiana or WVU, etc.
btw - for someone who doesn’t like the urban-ness of DC, I think the American is the natural substitute to GW. It has a campus and is similar in profile whereas Gtown is obviously a reach. AU, similar to GW, also offers merit aid whereas Gtown does not. On the flipside, Gtown meets need based aid whereas GW and AU do not.
As an example, my D hated GW. We left the tour. Yet loved AU - so had she gone to GW, she’d be miserable, etc.
Anyway - i’ll leave it alone now. I enjoyed the question - why I did the ranking research - but I personally am less about pedigree and more about fit - because if you’re unahppy for four years, then that’s a bigger issue. But I could have gone 10,000 ways!!!