It's not a stupid questions at all......quite thoughtful in fact. OP, based on the responses to your question there is clearly still a bias against the culture at Penn State which does reflect on the students that choose to go there over. Students self-select into that community over many equally good peer institutions so it says something about them and their values, right or wrong. As a parent I think you're asking the right question but of course it is just one variable in a multivariate equation. And FWIW, seeing pictures of the students rioting and blindly supporting Paterno (even until this day in many cases), does cast a negative light on Penn State grads rightly or wrongly, consciously or subconsciously.

There is no stigma - at all. Anybody who says so doesn't hire people for a living. We hire Penn State kids every year and they are high achievers - they are generally competitive and work very hard. They also lack the entitlement that is pervasive in a lot of the blue chip private schools (which we also hire from every year) and routinely out perform those kids. If you want to build a company of high achieving, hard working grinders, you should hire kids from Virginia Tech, Penn State, Florida, etc.

OP, I would send my kid to Penn State in a second if that is where he or she wanted to go there - it's a great environment and a great college atmosphere.