As a young kid with no knowledge of American history, I used to think that any prestigious school in the U.S. was an IVY league school. I had only heard of IVY league in American movies and shows. So, naturally, I thought that MIT and Stanford, both highly prestigious institutions, were also “IVY League” schools.
Years later, I realized that not all popular schools across the U.S. belonged to the IVY League. So then, what does this mean? What exactly is IVY league? Are schools that are not in this league inferior to the ones that are?
These are the sort of questions most people have in their minds when they learn about the distinction between IVY and non-IVY universities.
In this Article
What Does IVY League Mean?
In the 1800s, “planting an ivy” was a sort of ceremonial ritual observed annually in older colleges in the U.S. to commemorate academic excellence. Graduating students would place an ivy stone on either a residential, administrative or academic building.
This tradition remained alive throughout the 1800s in the colonial-era colleges. However, over the course of the next century, this ivy planting ceremony somehow evolved into the name Ivy league. The story goes that a New York Herald Tribune sportswriter referred to the competing teams as belonging to the old “ivy-covered” schools.
However, contrary to what people think, the term IVY League was never an official name for the eight schools it represents until 1945. In 1945, eight colonial-era schools got together to form an agreement that set academic, financial and athletic standards for football teams.
This agreement ascertained that,
“The members of the Group reaffirm their prohibition of athletic scholarships. Athletes shall be admitted as students and awarded financial aid only on the basis of the same academic standards and economic need as are applied to all other students.”
The point is that unlike what most people think, IVY League in itself doesn’t speak to the merit of a school. It is more of an athletic alliance that has informally existed for centuries until its official conception in mid 20th century.
However, the reason IVY League schools are revered as the most prestigious schools in the U.S. is because of the historical significance of these schools. Since these schools were constructed in colonial times, they have had centuries of excellence in both academia and sports.
These schools were excellent, to begin with, even before their official recognition as the IVY League schools.
However, over the past many decades, the term IVY League has permeated American society and signifies academic excellence. The eight schools listed below are some of the most popular schools around the world, and three of them – Harvard, Princeton and Yale – routinely rank in the top 10 schools worldwide.
What Are the Eight IVY League Schools?
The IVY League include the following eight schools:
- Brown University (founded 1746)
- Columbia University (founded 1754)
- Cornell University (founded 1865)
- Dartmouth College (founded 1769)
- Harvard University (founded 1636)
- The University of Pennsylvania, AKA UPenn (founded 1740)
- Princeton University (founded 1746)
- Yale University (founded 1702)
Are IVY Schools better than Non-IVY Schools such as Stanford?
While there is no denying that all eight Ivy League schools are highly reputable, some are not as high ranking as others. Moreover, it is a common misconception that if a particular school is not in this league, it cannot compete with schools that are.
This notion cannot be any far from the truth. Consider this, both Stanford and MIT are non-ivy schools. However, both of these consistently rank in the top ten schools worldwide every year.
According to the US NEWS 2021 College rankings, the first three spots are taken by Princeton, Harvard and Columbia, which are IVY League schools. However, at number four, we have MIT, a non-ivy league school known worldwide as the top engineering school.
Also, keep in mind that these rankings change slightly every year. In 2019 and 2020, MIT ranked at the third spot right after Princeton and Harvard.
So what about Stanford? Stanford is arguably one of the best and most famous schools globally. I could state facts and statistics to drive home the point, but there is no use because no one denies this. That being said, it is not an IVY league school, the same as MIT. Does that mean it’s not a competitive or highly prestigious institution? Absolutely not.
Referring to the aforementioned US NEWS 2021 rankings, Stanford ranks as the 6th best national school in the U.S. Cornell University, which is an IVY league school, ranks far worse at number 18. The same is true for Brown, Dartmouth and Upenn, which rank 14, 13 and 8, respectively. All four of these IVY league schools rank below Stanford even though they belong to the highly prestigious league.
What does this tell us? Firstly, not all IVY league schools rank at the very top of the list. There is a clear distinction between Harvard and Cornell, even though they belong to the same league.
Secondly, IVY league status doesn’t magically equate to high rankings as two of the most highly regarded schools, MIT and Stanford, do not belong to this league and yet rank in the top ten.
Is there an advantage to IVY League status?
It can be argued that the main advantage an IVY league status has is name recognition. Due to the history associated with the name and the cultural significance it portrays in American society, even a diploma from such a school can be very rewarding.
When a potential employer sees that an applicant attended an IVY league school, they can immediately recognize the prestige. This factor can play into job success down the line. Moreover, IVY league schools have a long tradition of notable alumni that serve in some of the top positions in the world. Students attending such a college will have access to networking with outstanding individuals.