MPH programs - the importance of "brand"

[indecisa]

Hello!

I have recently been admitted into several MPH programs and am just curious to know what people think about the importance of going to a highly-ranked institution for this degree. If one were to be admitted at a top ten school and a lower tier school, and the more prestigious school didn't offer any financial aid whereas the less prestigious one did, would it be worth the extra money to attend the name brand institution? In my particular case, the program at the "better" school very closely matches my interests, but i'm not sure if it's worth the extra financial burden. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

[NMRN]

I know this is really old and you are probably settling in to one school or another at this point, I'm going to throw out my opinion for any future deliberate-rs. I have 2 undergrad degrees- one from a decently ranked public school in French and a second from a home-run school in nursing. Both have MPH programs in which I took a handful of classes. The professors where equally as interesting, with a range of research interests. The classes where equally as varied. There was study abroad options at both places. I found my classmates at school A to be far more mutually supportive than at school B. I had more opportunities to explore and work closely with professors. Everyone on campus spent much less time posturing. I got a pretty damn good bang for my buck the first time around. I love being an RN and do not regret that decision but as I start to look for an MPH program, prestige is going to be much lower on my radar.