<p>There’s no meaningful difference between the “value” of a University of Chicago degree in economics and a similar degree from Harvard, MIT, Williams, or Amherst. Employers don’t hire degrees, they hire people. No undergraduate economics degree certifies that the student who earned it has any actual real-world job skills.</p>
<p>Going to any of those schools means (a) that you were pretty smart to begin with in order to be accepted, (b) you have been through a rigorous educational program with top-quality teachers and peers, and (c) you probably have good-to-excellent writing and analytical skills, both of which are foundational skills for success outside academia. In addition – and this is really important – having been at any of those schools means that you will have had opportunities to engage in research, get internships, and things like that, that will burnish your credentials, and that you can turn into a compelling reason why an employer should hire you. But that doesn’t happen automatically; you have to use your opportunities anywhere you go.</p>