{{Short description|Term for a group of American universities}} {{Distinguish|Public Ivy}} In the United States, "'''Ivy Plus'''" is an informal term that refers to the [[Ivy League]] universities and a small group of non-Ivy [[Private university|private universities]] regarded as their peers in prestige and academic standing.
==Background== The Ivy League is a university athletic league comprising eight universities in the [[Northeastern United States]] that, according to ''[[U.S. News and World Report]]'', "are considered the most sought-after institutions of higher learning in the country".<ref name="usnews">{{cite news |title=Ivy League Schools |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/ivy-league-schools |access-date=September 30, 2025 |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=September 22, 2025}}</ref> Its members are: [[Brown University]], [[Cornell University]], [[Columbia University]], [[Dartmouth College]], [[Harvard University]], [[Princeton University]], the [[University of Pennsylvania]], and [[Yale University]].<ref name="usnews"/>
==Included universities== There is no common definition as to what non-Ivy League schools are part of the Ivy Plus, though [[Duke University]], the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], [[Stanford University]], [[California Institute of Technology]],<ref name="karger">{{cite book |last1=Karger |first1=Howard |title=Failing Universities: How Higher Education Became a Commodity and What We Can Do About It |date=2024 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=135038383X |page=230}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2010-03-18 |title=The Ivy Plus Society: Where Dating Requires A Resumé (POLL) |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-ivy-plus-society-wher_n_309535 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019125407/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-ivy-plus-society-wher_n_309535 |archive-date=2021-10-19 |access-date=2025-12-26 |work=HuffPost |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Johns Hopkins University]] and the [[University of Chicago]] are the most commonly cited Ivy Plus institutions by multiple sources. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Dickler |first1=Jessica |title=More colleges set to close in 2025, even as 'Ivy Plus' schools experience application boom |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/15/more-colleges-set-to-close-in-2025-while-ivy-plus-schools-thrive.html |access-date=September 20, 2025 |work=[[CNBC]] |date=September 30, 2025}}</ref> Of them University of Chicago, MIT and Stanford are permanently included in the list of Ivy Plus schools since its inception.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mechanic |first1=Michael |title=Jackpot |date=2022 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=1982127228 |page=154}}</ref><ref name="karger"/><ref name="tipler">{{cite book |last1=Tipler |first1=Eric |title=Write Yourself In: The Definitive Guide to Writing Successful College Admissions Essays |date=2024 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=166805521X |page=209 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_HgIEQAAQBA}}</ref> Other institutions such as [[Georgetown University]],<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last=Garcia |first=Ally |title=A Rating Spectrum for Sexual Assault Education and Prevention at 10 Ivy-Plus Institutions |date=2020 |work=The Wiley Handbook of Gender Equity in Higher Education |pages=145–169 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119257639.ch8 |access-date=2025-12-27 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781119257639.ch8 |isbn=978-1-119-25763-9 |last2=Wienski |first2=Julie |last3=Cote |first3=Nicole |last4=Silva |first4=Christopher|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bindley |first=Katherine |date=2009-10-03 |title=The Dating Game, Ivied and Pedigreed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/fashion/04ivy.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220050420/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/fashion/04ivy.html |archive-date=2024-02-20 |access-date=2025-12-26 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> [[Northwestern University]],<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> and [[Vanderbilt University]],<ref name="karger"/> have occasionally been identified as non-Ivy League elite schools.
=== Formal grouping === The Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation, an interlibrary loan service maintained by a consortium of [[university libraries]], includes Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, MIT, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago among its non-Ivy League members.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About – Ivy Plus Libraries |url=https://ivpluslibraries.org/about/ |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=ivpluslibraries.org}}</ref>
The Ivy Plus Sustainability Consortium, established in 2007 to "advance sustainability in higher education," includes the [[University of Chicago]], [[Duke University]], [[Georgetown University]], [[Johns Hopkins University]], [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], and [[Stanford University]] alongside the eight Ivy League institutions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leadership through Partnership {{!}} Yale Sustainability |url=https://sustainability.yale.edu/priorities-progress/leadership/leadership-through-partnership |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=Yale Office of Sustainability}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ivy Plus Sustainability Consortium {{!}} Sustainability & Resiliency {{!}} Brown University |url=https://sustainability.brown.edu/ivy-plus-sustainability-consortium |access-date=2025-12-26 |website=Brown University |language=en}}</ref>
The Ivy Plus Exchange Scholars Program, an institutionally-recognized graduate exchange program operated by a consortium of universities, includes the [[University of California, Berkeley]], the University of Chicago, MIT, and Stanford University among its non-Ivy League members.<ref name="yale">{{cite web |title=IvyPlus Exchange Scholar Partners |url=https://gsas.yale.edu/ivyplus-exchange-scholar-program |website=yale.edu |publisher=[[Yale University]] |access-date=September 30, 2025}}</ref>
In 2017, following the [[United States and the Paris Agreement|United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement]] under the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|first Trump administration]], the presidents of eight Ivy League universities, along with Duke, Johns Hopkins, UChicago and MIT, referring to themselves as the "Ivy-plus group", co-signed a joint statement to affirm their commitment to tackling climate change.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-06 |title=Elite US universities defy Trump on climate change |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/elite-us-universities-defy-trump-climate-change |access-date=2026-01-03 |website=Times Higher Education (THE) |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Supran |first=Geoffrey |last2=Bekkers |first2=Ralien |last3=Aidun |first3=Hillary |last4=Wier |first4=Emily |date=2017-06-21 |title=To lead on climate, leave the ivy tower |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jun/21/to-lead-on-climate-leave-the-ivy-tower |access-date=2026-01-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-05 |title=Penn Joins 11 Other Universities in Reaffirming Commitment to Progress on Climate Change {{!}} Penn Today |url=https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-joins-11-other-universities-reaffirming-commitment-progress-climate-change |access-date=2026-01-03 |website=penntoday.upenn.edu |language=en}}</ref>
=== Studies and research === A 2023 study by the [[National Bureau of Economic Research]] found that, while "less than half of one percent of Americans attend Ivy-Plus colleges", they "account for more than 10 percent of [[Fortune 500]] CEOs, a quarter of U.S. senators, and three-fourths of [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] justices appointed in the last half-century". The study defined "Ivy Plus" as the Ivy League institutions plus Chicago, Duke, MIT, and Stanford.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chetty |first1=Raj |title=DIVERSIFYING SOCIETY'S LEADERS? THE DETERMINANTS AND CAUSAL EFFECTS OF ADMISSION TO HIGHLY SELECTIVE PRIVATE COLLEGES |url=https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31492/w31492.pdf |website=nber.org |publisher=[[National Bureau of Economic Research]] |access-date=September 30, 2025}}</ref>
=== ''Forbes''<nowiki/>' New Ivies List === Since 2024, ''[[Forbes]]'' has published a list of non-Ivy League universities based on exclusivity and surveys of hiring managers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Whitford |first=Emma |title=The New Ivies For 2024 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2024/08/27/the-new-ivies-for-2024/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250821211120/https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2024/08/27/the-new-ivies-for-2024/ |archive-date=2025-08-21 |access-date=2025-12-27 |work=Forbes |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Whitford |first=Emma |title=The New Ivies 2025: 20 Great Colleges Employers Love |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/03/26/the-new-ivies-2025-20-great-colleges-employers-love/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251213133801/https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/03/26/the-new-ivies-2025-20-great-colleges-employers-love/ |archive-date=2025-12-13 |access-date=2025-12-27 |work=Forbes |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McNair |first=Kamaron |date=2024-05-04 |title=10 top-rated colleges that could compete with the Ivy League, says Forbes |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/04/forbes-new-ivies-college-ranking.html |access-date=2025-12-27 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref> The momentary 2025 promising "New Ivies" list includes [[Carnegie Mellon University]], [[Georgetown University]], [[Johns Hopkins University]], [[Rice University]], [[University of Notre Dame]], [[Vanderbilt University]], and [[Washington University in St. Louis|Washington University]] in St Louis.<ref name=":2" />
==See also== * [[Colonial colleges]] * [[Public Ivies]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
[[Category:Colloquial terms for groups of universities and colleges]] [[Category:Universities and colleges in the United States]] [[Category:Ivy League]]