Many people try to sell the “go to school X if you want to make more money and have better opportunities” cool-aid, but it really largely boils down to where regionally the graduates end up working. After they work one job, engineering becomes VERY egalitarian, with those who can do, moving up the food chain and those who can’t lagging. School choice becomes a limited distinguishing factor.
My son is a classic example. He went to a good program and amassed a very solid record of academic achievement, work experience, and projects. Before he graduated, he had two offers, both that he was very interested in. One was in a relatively rural East Coast town, the other in a very large West Coast city. The West Coast offer was $30,000 higher than the one in the East. Much of that difference, but not all, is eaten up by the significant cost of living differences.
One of my favorite tools in assessing these decisions is to go to LinkedIn and search for the school. Click on Alumni and then scroll right and under What They Do select Engineering. Click the show more button and it will reveal, in order, the companies their alums work for. If he does that he will see that, with a couple of exceptions, both institutions place their grads in virtually the same companies.
The power of graduating debt free is HUGE. I certainly wouldn’t choose debt for an arbitrary rankings listing. Those change every year. If that distinction was material, you’d expect it to show in the list of companies where alumni work. It doesn’t. They are both peer institutions, both well respected.
That’s my opinion. Certainly others can chime in.