Regardless of what “prestige” may have looked like for these students going in four years ago, graduating debt-free with a job seems pretty darned prestigious now.
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Respectfully, I think you’re answering a different question than the OP posed. I understood their opening and closing lines — “What makes a college more prestigious?” and “So what actually makes a college prestigious in 2026?” — to be asking what constitutes prestige and how people define it, not the benefits of attending a prestigious university.
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I agree. And not just which schools are prestigious – also how much prestige matters. School prestige is just not as important in the Midwest; people care less on average.
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This question has been asked many times here and the fundamental answer is still yes.
IMO though, there’s an increasing desperation amongst high achievers to “at least” get into whatever USNWR deems to be the current “T20.” As usual at this time of year, there is a whole new crop of college decision reaction videos. The majority all seem to apply to the same schools and there is palpable distress if they “only” get into one or two. (Or sometimes none, but I suspect not as many of those videos are posted.)
In my region of the NE, southern colleges continue to be popular with average excellent students and there is an aura of prestige simply in being able to afford tuition at OOS public u’s.
My answer was: “Prestige means results.”
I provided evidence of the results.
i see it similarly
I have heard several Cal Poly grads say that people in the east seem to assume that they went to Caltech… this works out pretty well for them 
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It’s like College of Charleston. Not selective. Yet my daughter has gotten many - wow, that’s a really prestigious school.
I wonder if the age of a school plays a part in that.
Uh… “not selective” is not accurate for Cal Poly. Overall acceptance rate is under 30%, but selectivity depends on the major, with some majors being very selective, and others less selective.
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No, I wasn’t referencing Cal Poly. I was just saying - some non selective - like my daughter’s school - are considered prestigous (by some). I think it might be because of the “college of” - and the age…as many know Charleston is colonial but it’s been mentioned many times that it’s another W&M - and from a selectivity POV, those who know - know it’s not. But many don’t know, etc. - and its name (to some) oozes that similar level.
You had noted some thought Cal Poly was Cal Tech. In some ways, I wonder if some think C of C is like W&M because both are historic.
Sorry if my language wasn’t clear.
It is a lot simpler than that, in this case! 
This mix-up is simply because of the name of the school. When people see “California Polytechnic” on someone’s resume, if they are not familiar with Cal Poly, they sometimes assume that it is the full name for Caltech. Consequently, Cal Poly people have been known to report anecdotes like this: “they hired me, and then I overheard one of the managers talking about how excited they were to get someone from Caltech”…
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To most high school seniors and their parents, college prestige is often mostly about perceived selectivity among colleges they know about. An exception would be that a state flagship is often considered more prestigious than a state non-flagship, even if the latter is more selective (which sometimes happens when they are in different states). College prestige is often an important factor when students select colleges – colleges see that yield is high among admits who were reaching for the college (which was likely the most selective college they got admitted to), but low for admits who were “overqualified” and probably got into more selective colleges.
Where college prestige may or may not actually matter is how it affects being hired for jobs and admitted to graduate and professional programs. It can matter anywhere from none to highly important, depending on the specific type of job or graduate or professional program. The level of college prestige in this respect also differs for different types of jobs or graduate or professional programs (and college majors to the extent that these jobs and programs are related to specific college majors). For example, a college may have top level prestige for management consulting jobs, but not for engineering jobs (and college prestige tends to be less important for the latter than the former).
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Do people also mix up the three different Cal Polys, or mix up Cal Poly Pomona and Pomona College?
Also, how many people would recognize Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University?
In my experience, the definition of a prestigious college is when it "shifts the burden of proof”. When people will assume, based largely on the school you attended, that you are smart and will add value… unless and until you demonstrate otherwise.
I admit I reflexively do that myself whenever I come across a graduate from MIT or Stanford or Caltech (and just a few others).
If high school seniors or their parents also value this uncommon ability to “shift the burden of proof”, then aiming for a highly prestigious college makes a lot of sense.
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Where I live, prestige is still based on Ivies and rankings.
For those who would not be accepted to these schools, it is about being able (or willing) to pay for an OOS school.
Where I live, people do not really pay attention to admit rates within an Ivy.
Also where I live- most people do not know or pay attention to programs, grad schools etc that have competitive admits.
It is like that in many households and regions, but rankings seems to lag reality, and do people run and look each year? If we could predict the rankings for the class of 2035, would prestige change now? Or do people not know, that already, 1/2 of the ivies are no longer in the top 10?
I don’t think people around here look at Ivy rankings.
Prestige can change. Look at Northeastern. Some people think Northeastern is a prestigious school. When did it become prestigious? My brother in law (Amherst grad) scoffed that NYU (other than Stern and their law school) is prestigious. He was like, NYU? Really?
Several people mentioned that the midwest doesnt care that much because they have strong public universities. IMO, I think that’s true there and elsewhere.
UMich, UIUC, UT Austin, UF, UNC, UVA, Ga Tech, Purdue - does anyone who live in those states (or the region) think those schools arent prestigious? They have strong demand and their OOS acceptance rate is very low.
IMO, the Northeast has a private school bias and people in other parts of the country think public schools are just as good.
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do you mean on CC or in the real world?
In my neck of the woods.
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