The Ivy League is an association of eight American universities, named for the ivy plants traditionally covering their older buildings. 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. Here they are listed in alphabetical order:
Brown University
Brown
University is located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in
1764 as Rhode Island College. It is the third-oldest institution of higher
education in New England and the seventh-oldest in the United States. Brown was
the first college in the nation to welcome students of all religious
affiliations.
Columbia University
Columbia
University is located in New York City, New York. It was founded in
1754 as King's College. It is the oldest institution of higher education
in the state of New York and the sixth-oldest in the United States. Founded in
1754 under a royal charter granted by England's King George II, Columbia has
grown over time to comprise 20 schools and affiliated institutions.
Cornell University
Cornell
University is located in Ithaca, New York. It was founded in 1865.
Cornell was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell, a businessman and a pioneer in the
telegraph industry, and Andrew Dickson White, a respected scholar and
politician.
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth
College is located in Hanover, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1769.
It is the ninth-oldest college in the United States. In addition to its liberal
arts undergraduate program, Dartmouth has medical, engineering, and business
schools, as well as graduate programs in the arts and sciences. For reasons of
tradition the institution as a whole is officially called "Dartmouth College"
and not "Dartmouth University". Dartmouth is the smallest university in the Ivy
League.
Harvard University
Harvard
University is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded in
1636 by a vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
making it the oldest institution of higher education in the United States.
Originally called the New College, it was named Harvard College on March
13, 1639, after its first principal donor, John Harvard.
University of Pennsylvania
The
University of Pennsylvania is located, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It was founded in 1749 as the Academy of Philadelphia. It is the
fifth-oldest college and oldest university in the United States, and is often
referred to as Penn or UPenn.
Princeton University
Princeton
University is located in Princeton, New Jersey. It was founded in
1746. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the
United States. It was founded as the "College of New Jersey" in 1746, and was
originally located in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The school moved to Princeton in
1756, still under its original name. The name was officially changed to
"Princeton University" in 1896.
Yale University
Yale
University is located in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in
1701 as the Collegiate School. Yale is the third-oldest American
institution of higher education and one of the most prestigious and well-known
in the world. The University has graduated numerous Nobel Prize laureates and
U.S. Presidents, including William Clinton and George W. Bush.