The Ivy League

The Ivy League is an association of eight Northeastern American universities. The term, “Ivy League” has connotations of academic excellence as well as a certain amount of elitism. These schools are also sometimes affectionately referred to as the Ancient Eight.

All of the Ivy League universities share some general characteristics: they are among the most prestigious and selective universities in the US; they rank within the top one percent of the world’s universities in terms of financial endowment; and they attract top-tier students and faculty. The Ivies are also among the oldest universities in the United States – all but Cornell University were founded during America’s colonial era.

All but one of the Ivy League universities are privately owned and controlled, although many of them receive funding from federal or state governments to pursue research. One of the eight, Cornell, has four state supported academic units, termed statutory colleges, that are an integral part of the university.

The eight Ivy League universities:

Brown University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth University
Harvard University
University of Pennsylvania
Princeton University
Yale University