<p>In my expierience, numbers are a very poor indicator of alumni network. </p>
<p>For instance, Penn State claims to have the largest, and just like other well respected flag ship state universities, they have a very large number of living alumni. But, with that said, they also claim the graduates of satelite campuses and they also have a lot of alumni that are not successful academically or successfully. The Big Ten conference schools talk about their alumni support in the same manner they talk about their fans and branding. Yes, these schools sports teams sell tickets and everyone recognizes the school’s name but the real test of an alumni network is not how many people make the minimum alumni donation needed to get football tickets. The real test of an alumni group is how often do people get hired by other alums for no other reason than being a graduate of the same school? The schools with the largest alumni giving and alumni networking at not the large schools with a lot of alumni and fans but are the schools where simply being a grad is respected.</p>
<p>In the world of business, people do not hire for charity, they hire because they need people that can get them and their business where they want to be. They look for the people that add value. Will an Ohio State alum hire an Ohio State grad? Yes. But they know of many alums they would never hire and so they vet them with all the other applicants.</p>
<p>I have observed some schools having very strong alumni networks. In these circles, just having that name behind you means they respect your ability to be successful. Alumni giving is a great metric since people put their money in things they value. But look at total givers, not total dollars. Oklahoma State may have T. Boone Pickens but he isn’t hiring alums like crazy.</p>
<p>Cornell has a very strong network on ‘the street’ and in addition to the Ivy leage schools, Davidson, Middlebury, Amherst, Wheaton, Clarkson, Jusdon, Lehigh, Williams and others have shown to have very strong networks.</p>