if a PhD student published the exact same quality and quantity of papers but their universities differed then it doesn't matter. For example if you published 3

if a PhD student published the exact same quality and quantity of papers but their universities differed then it doesn't matter. For example if you published 3 papers in nature (or in comp sci 3 best paper awards at your competitive conference ) during your PhD nobody cares where you did your PhD. Prestigious universities matter for PhD students if you "fail" , meaning you were unable to produce significant work worth mentioning. Then you can use your prestige to get a job in industry.