Honestly, if you want to stay and work in Nebraska, having an unl degree is a pretty big deal. I've seen job postings where they straight-up say they want unl grads, like it's some secret handshake or something. If you grew up around here or want to make connections with local businesses, unl's kind of the go-to. You see a ton of alumni in leadership roles too, from ag businesses to city jobs to teaching.

The other thing is, unl professors usually know someone in pretty much every local company. One of my friends interned with a local bank just because their prof used to sit on their board. So yeah, you could come in with a degree from somewhere else, but it seems like unl grads just get more callbacks here. If you plan to leave Nebraska and go big city, unl's okay but maybe not as recognized out there. For staying local though, I've found it almost always helps.