The Public Ivies, Little Ivies, and Other Ivy League Equivalents

The Public Ivies offer an Ivy League education at a public university price, according to Richard Moll, who coined the term in his 1985 book " ... ThePublicIvies,LittleIvies,andOtherIvyLeagueEquivalents by GenevieveCarlton,Ph.D. PublishedonOctober22,2021·UpdatedonMarch4,2022 SharethisArticle BestColleges.comisanadvertising-supportedsite.Featuredortrustedpartnerprogramsandallschoolsearch,finder,ormatchresultsareforschoolsthatcompensateus.Thiscompensationdoesnotinfluenceourschoolrankings,resourceguides,orothereditorially-independentinformationpublishedonthissite. Readytostartyourjourney? PublicIvies|LittleIvies|HiddenIvies|IvyPlusSchools|NewIvies|BlackIvies|SouthernIvies|SevenSisters Today,theterm"IvyLeague"connotesprestige,tradition,andpower.ComposedofacademicpowerhouseslikeHarvard,Princeton,Yale,andColumbia,theIviesseemtodominateU.S.highereducation.Butwhataboutotherschoolswithexcellentreputationsthatdon'thavetheIvyLeaguelabel? It'slikelynosurprisethatIvyLeague-levelcollegesanduniversitieswouldborrowalittle"ivy"touseintheirownnames.Thesesimilarlyprestigiousgroupsofinstitutionsincludepublicschools,smallliberalartscolleges,andotherlesser-known,top-tierschools. WhatArethePublicIvies? ThePublicIviesofferanIvyLeagueeducationatapublicuniversityprice,accordingtoRichardMoll,whocoinedtheterminhis1985book"ThePublicIvys." Moll'slistofthePublicIviesconsistedof15schools,includingWilliam&Mary,UCBerkeley,theUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill,theUniversityofMichigan,UCLA,andtheUniversityofVirginia.Mollalsonamedninerunners-up,which,tohim,offerednear-Ivy-leveleducationbutweren'tquiteasstrong. The2001book"Greenes'GuidestoEducationalPlanning"expandedthePublicIvyschoolslistto30publicuniversities,dividedbyregion(Northeast,Mid-Atlantic,South,Midwest,andWest).SchoolsonthislistincludeIndianaUniversityBloomington,theUniversityofGeorgia,theUniversityofWisconsin-Madison,andtheUniversityofWashington. TheseinstitutionsareallsaidtomatchtheactualIvyLeagueintermsofacademicquality.Thatsaid,thePublicIviesdifferfromtheIvyLeagueinkeyways. Forone,mostPublicIviesarealotlargerthantheIvyLeagueschools.WhiletheundergraduateenrollmentattheeightIviesaveragesaround8,500students,manyPublicIviesboastfarbiggerundergraduateclasses.MichiganandUCLA,forexample,eachenrollover31,000undergrads,whereastheUniversityofTexasatAustinenrollsover40,000undergrads. ThePublicIviesalsoreportsmallerendowmentsthantheIvies—andtheseendowmentsmuststretchfurtherbecauseoftheirlargerstudentbodies.AlthoughMichiganranksaboveColumbiainitsendowmentsize,thepublicuniversitysimplycan'tmatcharealIvyintermsoffinancialaidforstudents. ThePublicIviesdo,however,offeronehugeadvantageovertheIvies:lowertuitionrates.WhileeveryIvyLeagueschoolchargesmorethan$50,000inannualtuitionandfees,manyofthePublicIviescostaroundjust$10,000peryearforin-statestudents. false PublicIvyLeagueSchools(Greene,2001) BinghamtonUniversity IndianaUniversityBloomington MiamiUniversity MichiganStateUniversity OhioStateUniversity PennsylvaniaStateUniversity Rutgers,TheStateUniversityofNewJersey UniversityofArizona UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley UniversityofCalifornia,Davis UniversityofCalifornia,Irvine UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles UniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego UniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara UniversityofColoradoBoulder UniversityofConnecticut UniversityofDelaware UniversityofFlorida UniversityofGeorgia UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign UniversityofIowa UniversityofMaryland,CollegePark UniversityofMichigan UniversityofMinnesotaTwinCities UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill UniversityofTexasatAustin UniversityofVirginia UniversityofWashington UniversityofWisconsin-Madison William&Mary WhatAretheLittleIvies? ThePublicIviesaren'ttheonlyschoolscomparedwiththeIvyLeague.The"LittleIvies,"whichconsistofprivateliberalartscolleges,offerbothacademicrigorandselectiveadmissionssimilartothatoftheIviesandPublicIvies. TheLittleIviesincludealltheschoolsoftheNewEnglandSmallCollegeAthleticConferenceandseveralschoolsoutsideNewEngland.Eliteliberalartsinstitutions,likeAmherstCollege,VassarCollege,andTuftsUniversity,typicallyappearonLittleIvieslists. WhilemanyofthePublicIviesenrolltensofthousandsofstudents,theLittleIviesusuallyhavemuchsmallerstudentbodies.Amherst,BowdoinCollege,andSwarthmoreCollegeallenrollfewerthan1,850students. Additionally,theLittleIviesoftenfocusexclusivelyonundergraduateeducation.WhiletheIvyLeagueandPublicIviesoffernumerousgraduateprograms,manyoftheLittleIviesonlyofferundergraduatedegrees. false ListofLittleIvies AmherstCollege BatesCollege BowdoinCollege ColbyCollege ConnecticutCollege HamiltonCollege HaverfordCollege LafayetteCollege MiddleburyCollege SwarthmoreCollege TrinityCollege TuftsUniversity VassarCollege WesleyanUniversity WilliamsCollege WhatAretheHiddenIvies? Ina2000book,educationexpertsHowardandMatthewGreene—thesameduowhoexpandedMoll'slistofPublicIvies—proposedtheideaofthe"HiddenIvies."These63highlyselectivecollegesofferapremierliberalartseducation. TheHiddenIviesincludemanysmallcolleges,suchasDavidsonCollege,PomonaCollege,CarletonCollege,andOberlinCollege,aswellassomelargeresearchuniversities,likeGeorgetownUniversity,VanderbiltUniversity,WashingtonUniversityinSt.Louis,andtheUniversityofSouthernCalifornia. false ListofHiddenIvies AmherstCollege BarnardCollege BatesCollege BostonCollege BowdoinCollege BrandeisUniversity BrynMawrCollege BucknellUniversity CarletonCollege CaseWesternReserveUniversity ClaremontMcKennaCollege ColbyCollege ColgateUniversity CollegeoftheHolyCross ColoradoCollege DavidsonCollege DenisonUniversity DickinsonCollege DukeUniversity EmoryUniversity FordhamUniversity FranklinandMarshallCollege GeorgetownUniversity GrinnellCollege HamiltonCollege HaverfordCollege JohnsHopkinsUniversity KenyonCollege LafayetteCollege LehighUniversity MacalesterCollege MiddleburyCollege MountHolyokeCollege NorthwesternUniversity OberlinCollege PomonaCollege ReedCollege RiceUniversity SkidmoreCollege SmithCollege SouthernMethodistUniversity StanfordUniversity SwarthmoreCollege TrinityCollege TuftsUniversity TulaneUniversity UnionCollege UniversityofChicago UniversityofNotreDame UniversityofRichmond UniversityofRochester UniversityofSouthernCalifornia UniversityoftheSouth VanderbiltUniversity VassarCollege VillanovaUniversity WakeForestUniversity WashingtonandLeeUniversity WashingtonUniversityinSt.Louis WellesleyCollege WesleyanUniversity WilliamsCollege WhatDoes"IvyPlus"Mean? TheIviesaren'ttheonlyrenownedprivateschoolsthatconsistentlyrankinthetop20.Manyusethephrase"IvyPlus"torefertoboththeIviesandahandfulofsimilarlyprestigiousschools,suchasStanford,MIT,theUniversityofChicago,andDuke.Somelists,however,alsocountNorthwestern,JohnsHopkins,andCaltechamongtheIvyPlusschools. LiketheIvies,theseinstitutionsarecostlyandhighlyselective,usuallyadmittingfewerthan10%ofapplicants.Theyalsoofferprestigiousalumninetworks,largeendowments,andlivelytraditions. false ListofIvyPlusSchools(Unofficial) BrownUniversity ColumbiaUniversity CornellUniversity DartmouthCollege DukeUniversity HarvardUniversity MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology PrincetonUniversity StanfordUniversity UniversityofChicago UniversityofPennsylvania YaleUniversity WhatAretheNewIvies? In2006,Newsweekcoinedthephrase"NewIvies."Theseschoolsrankhighinacademicsandfaculty,eveniftheydon'treachtheendowmentsizeorelitestatusoftheIvies.Newsweek'slistincludesbothpublicandprivateschools,suchasCarnegieMellon,UNC-ChapelHill,Emory,andNotreDame. UnliketheIvies,whichalllaywithinjustafewhundredmilesofoneanother,theNewIviesstretchacrossthecountry,fromtheClaremontCollegesinCaliforniatoManhattan'sNYU. false ListofNewIvies BostonCollege BowdoinCollege CarnegieMellonUniversity ColbyCollege ColgateUniversity DavidsonCollege EmoryUniversity HarveyMuddCollege KenyonCollege MacalesterCollege NewYorkUniversity OlinCollegeofEngineering PomonaCollege ReedCollege RensselaerPolytechnicInstitute RiceUniversity SkidmoreCollege TuftsUniversity UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles UniversityofMichigan UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill UniversityofNotreDame UniversityofRochester UniversityofVirginia VanderbiltUniversity WashingtonUniversityinSt.Louis WhatAretheBlackIvies? ElicitingcomparisonstotheIvyLeague,themostelitehistoricallyBlackcollegesanduniversitiesareoftencalledthe"BlackIvies."Theseschools—includingHowardUniversity,FiskUniversity,MorehouseCollege,TuskegeeUniversity,andHamptonUniversity—werefirstsingledoutinBarnardpsychologyprofessorJacquelineFleming's1984book"BlacksinColleges." false ListofBlackIvies(Unofficial) DillardUniversity FiskUniversity HamptonUniversity HowardUniversity MorehouseCollege SpelmanCollege TuskegeeUniversity WhatAretheSouthernIvies? WheneighteliteNortheasternuniversitiesjoinedtheIvyLeagueathleticconferencein1954,Southernuniversitiesattemptedtoestablisharivalleague:theMagnoliaConference.MadeupofschoolslikeVanderbilt,Emory,Rice,Duke,andTulane,theMagnoliaConferencewasmeanttocompetewiththeIvyLeagueinmorethanjustsports. Thoughtheathleticconferencenevertookoff,theseprestigiousSouthernschoolsarestillsometimesdubbedthe"SouthernIvies." false ListofSouthernIvies(Unofficial) DavidsonCollege DukeUniversity EmoryUniversity RiceUniversity SouthernMethodistUniversity TulaneUniversity UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill UniversityofTexasatAustin UniversityofVirginia VanderbiltUniversity WakeForestUniversity William&Mary WhatAretheSevenSisters? NearlyallIvyLeagueschoolshistoricallyexcludedwomen.Columbiadidn'tstartadmittingfemalestudentsuntil1983,andonlyCornelladmittedwomenfromitsfoundingin1865.Asaresult,theseven(originally)men-onlyIviesofferedsisterinstitutionsforwomen.Theseschools,whichwerefoundedinthe19thcentury,weremeanttoeducatethesistersofmenattheIvies. The"SevenSisters,"astheinstitutionsareknown,includeVassar,Barnard(Columbia'ssisterinstitute),andRadcliffeCollege,whichmergedwithHarvardin1977.Today,Vassaradmitsbothmenandwomen,buttheremainingSistersoperateasprivatewomen'scolleges. false ListofSevenSisters BarnardCollege BrynMawrCollege MountHolyokeCollege RadcliffeCollege SmithCollege VassarCollege WellesleyCollege TheIvyLeaguevs.theAlmost-Ivies TheIvyLeagueschoolsdon'thaveamonopolyonhighereducation.ThePublicIvies,theLittleIvies,andmanyothernon-IvyschoolscanoffersomethingtheIvyLeaguecan't.Forexample,thePublicIviesprovideabig-schoolfeel,whiletheLittleIviesemphasizeevensmallerstudentbodiesthanDartmouth,thesmallestIvyLeagueschool. Thepointisthatanyonecangetagoodeducationatoneofthenon-Ivies.WhileMaliaObamachosetoattendHarvard,hersister,Sasha,optedfortheUniversityofMichigan.Youreducationisultimatelywhatyoumakeofit. FeatureImage:OlegAlbinsky/E+/GettyImages HaveaQuestionAboutCollege? InourAskaCollegeAdvisorseries,experiencedadvisorsprovideaninsiderlookatthecollegeexperiencebyansweringyourquestionsaboutcollegeadmissions,finances,andstudentlife. SubmitaQuestion ViewAnsweredQuestions Discoverthe10hardestcollegestogetintoaswellaswhattheseschoolslookforduringtheadmissionsprocess. Today,theIvyLeaguestandsasaparagonofacademicachievement,buttheseeightprestigiouscollegesactuallyhavealongandcomplicatedhistory. ArecentBestCollegessurveyfoundthatamajorityofAmericansvalueaffordabilityoverprestigeintheircollegechoice. BestColleges.comisanadvertising-supportedsite.Featuredortrustedpartnerprogramsandallschoolsearch,finder,ormatchresultsareforschoolsthatcompensateus.Thiscompensationdoesnotinfluenceourschoolrankings,resourceguides,orothereditorially-independentinformationpublishedonthissite. Compareyourschooloptions. Viewthemostrelevantschoolforyourinterestsandcomparethembytuition,programs,acceptancerate,andotherfactorsimportanttofindyourcollegehome.