I graduated in May and got a job with a startup merely because I spent my spare time building a fairly cool product built in Ruby on Rails. I would argue if you've shipped a product and can show it off, thats more valuable than having a degree from a well-known school.

But my real advice: Start a startup out of college if you've got no debt and have a good idea. It is what I'm doing right now and I'm pretty sure its the right time to take risks. At the very least you'll fail, have another product, and be even more employable than you once were.