People may not want to accept this fact, because of there are examples of outliers that come to mind easily, but what school you attended can drastically change the job opportunities available to you. For example, in the engineering field, you can attend the University of Florida for electrical engineering and get a job at Google, but it will require you to be an outlier in regards to the amount of effort you put in to get that job because Florida is not known for its engineering dominance. On the other hand, someone who attends the University of Waterloo or Stanford from year one is getting badgered by Google, Apple, Microsoft recruiters, etc... for internships because those schools have outstanding reputations as engineering schools. On graduation, someone from Stanford has far less of a uphill battle to find a position they want, and there connections open up even more opportunities.

This is even more true for MBAs. Had the author gone to Harvard or Stanford, the opportunity that MBA would have afforded him would have easily justified the 2 years it took to get it. There is more to this than just the value in money. For example, most people would rather work on cutting edge technology at a major corporation that pays less than some small engineering firm that says works on infrastructure projects. The major corporation will be looking for that top 20 MBA, and you will never have that opportunity (unless again you are an outlier) without that universities reputation to back you.

And for those who say this may be discriminatory, just remember that it is very difficult to judge people in the late 20's or even early 30s on just pure experience and accomplishment because you are still very young career wise to have built up any notable portfolio of experience. That is why your educations is so critical.