Vivendi, a telecoms and media group, for instance, found Aliza Jabès, the glamorous founder of NUXE, a beauty-products firm, having used her in an ad campaign for its corporate mobile-phone products.

"I do think there are advantages to schools with more recognition," notes Marybeth Gasman, a professor of higher education at the University of Pennsylvania.

John and Becky settled near Haines, a town of about 1500 persons on the south coast of Alaska.