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Students need to look beyond the Ivy League

American public universities tend to be larger, offer more courses

The Ivy League is an athletics conference of eight universities located in the Northeastern United States that was originally formed fifty years ago. Although many of its constituents are among the oldest and most selective universities in America, the Ivy League serves as a platform for intercollegiate athletic competition - and nothing more.

Many are surprised to discover that universities such as Stanford, MIT, and Caltech are not part of the Ivy League as, over time, they have become accustomed to using “Ivy League” in all-encompassing reference to leading American universities.

Recently, universities outside of the “Ancient Eight” of the Ivy League renowned for their academic excellence have been clustered into Public Ivies, Ivy Plus and Little Ivies. These are worth exploring as alternative options to the Ivy League.

Public Ivies

American public universities tend to be larger, offer more courses, and spend more on research than their private peers. In terms of annual US University Research & Development expenditure, six out of the top ten universities are actually public. Tuition fees also tend to be lower than those at leading private universities. Based on selectivity, cost and academic program strength, 30 public universities unofficially comprise the Public Ivies list and they can be found in every region of the USA.

In the Northeast, Pennsylvania State University offers reputable Engineering and Business programs, entrepreneurial initiatives and a vibrant student community. A leading research institution, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the South, has a competitive acceptance rate of 17% and equips its students with skills to thrive in a rapidly changing workforce. Recognized for its Top 10 computer science program, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the Midwest with its large network of over 500,000 living alumni offers increased mentorship opportunities and job placement. Then there’s University of Colorado Boulder in the West, the No.1 public university recipient of NASA awards and a leader in many other fields, especially Aerospace Engineering.

Little Ivies

Don’t be fooled by the name Little Ivies, these small liberal arts colleges have acceptance rates that make them among the most competitive in the nation. Located primarily in the Northeast, this unofficial group of 15 private, highly selective, liberal arts colleges emphasize small class sizes and intimate learning experiences. With a 9% acceptance rate, Bowdoin College offers dual-degree engineering programs through Caltech, Columbia and Dartmouth. Famous alums include the founder of Netflix and Franklin Pierce, the 14th US president. Want to schedule your own final exams and design your major? From freshman year, Haverford College, with a 9 to 1 faculty ratio and close-knit classroom environment, begins to equip its student body with leadership, problem solving and critical thinking skills. One of the few liberal arts colleges to offer engineering, Swarthmore College is an ideal fit for high achieving students interested in progressive causes, independent research and interdisciplinary studies. Rigorous academics... Exceptional career and internship programs… A private ski slope… And the first college Quadball (formerly known as Quidditch) team. This is Middlebury College

Ivy Plus schools are private institutions that offer a similar caliber of education as top ranked Ivy League schools and often fill out the top slots in US News & World Report and QS World University Rankings.

MIT, Stanford, CalTech and Duke emphasize groundbreaking knowledge and research in all things science, technology engineering and math. They seek students with near perfect standardized scores who are generally in the top 10% of their class and have already initiated impactful passion projects. If media is your calling, follow the footsteps of Northwestern alumni George R. R Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the inspiration behind multi-award winning series, Game of Thrones or David Schwimmer, Friends’ favorite paleontologist. Boasting an annual research budget of $1 billion dollars, Vanderbilt is a reputed private research institution which encourages its student body to produce cutting-edge research with high economic and social impact. Home to a regular cohort of Nobel Prize winners, Johns Hopkins University is the epitome of academic excellence, groundbreaking research and a robust international network. It has led international university research spending for over three decades.

Aplomb should be given to the original Ivy League for setting the bar in the education arena with excellence, prowess, and vision. Following in their footsteps, the alt-Ivies have created unofficial leagues of their own, which pave the way for students privileged enough to attend them.

Let the college games begin!

Peter Davos is CEO and Ayesha Siddiqui is Team Lead at Hale Education.