Ivy Plus Schools: The Complete Guide

“Ivy Plus” most often refers to the eight Ivy League universities plus a small set of non-Ivy private universities treated as close peers, that compete for similar students, faculty, research funding, and prestige. The precise membership varies by context, but the most widely cited academic definition uses 12 schools.

Importantly, “Ivy Plus” also appears in the formal names of institutional collaborations, where membership is explicitly defined by that consortium. The clearest example is the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation, which publicly lists its member institutions. There is no single, universally agreed Ivy Plus list. The term is used differently depending on whether the context is academic research, library consortia, or general admissions discussion.

What Are the Ivy Plus Schools?

In the most rigorous, research-defined sense, the Ivy Plus schools are the eight Ivy League universities plus Stanford, MIT, Duke, and the University of Chicago, so 12 schools total. This definition comes directly from major NBER research by economists Raj Chetty, David J. Deming, and John N. Friedman, who define “Ivy Plus” as the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Duke, and the University of Chicago.

Group	Schools
Ivy League (8)	Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown
Plus (4)	Stanford, MIT, Duke, University of Chicago

How Many Ivy Plus Schools Are There?

There is no single universal count, but the most clearly sourced figures are:

• 12: in major academic research (the Chetty et al. NBER definition: Ivies + Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago)
• 13: in the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation, which adds Johns Hopkins

The Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation is a partnership between 13 leading academic research libraries: Brown University, the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Stanford University, and Yale University.

What Schools Are Most Commonly Considered Ivy Plus?

Most credible discussions converge on a core set beyond the eight Ivies:

• Always included (core 12): Stanford, MIT, Duke, University of Chicago
• Frequently included (broader definitions): Johns Hopkins, Caltech
• Sometimes included (expanded lists): Northwestern, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Washington University in St. Louis

There is no common definition as to what non-Ivy League schools are part of the Ivy Plus, though Duke, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Chicago are the most commonly cited by multiple sources.

Is NYU Ivy Plus?

Typically, no. NYU is not part of the 12-school academic definition, and it is not a member of the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation. While NYU has risen significantly in research profile and global rankings, it does not appear in the primary sources that define Ivy Plus most rigorously.

Is Northwestern Ivy Plus?

Not in the core definitions, but sometimes in expanded ones. The NBER academic definition does not include Northwestern. It is listed among “12 other highly selective private colleges” studied separately from the 12 Ivy Plus schools. The Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation’s 13-member roster also does not include Northwestern. That said, some admissions blogs and informal rankings include it in broader Ivy Plus lists.

Is Georgetown Ivy Plus?

Not in the core definitions. Georgetown is not part of the 12-school NBER research definition, and it is not a member of the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation. Georgetown has occasionally been identified as an Ivy Plus school in informal usage, and in 2017, Georgetown’s president co-signed a joint climate statement alongside Ivy League presidents and the heads of Duke, Johns Hopkins, and MIT — a group that referred to themselves collectively as the “Ivy-plus group.” This reflects occasional informal association, not inclusion in formal definitions.

How Do Ivy Plus Schools Differ from the Ivy League?

The Ivy League is, at its origin, an athletic conference: a formal NCAA Division I association of eight northeastern universities that has existed since 1954. Over time, the name became synonymous with academic prestige, but membership is fixed, historical, and geographic. Ivy Plus, by contrast, is an academic and reputational designation with no governing body and no official membership process. Schools like Stanford, MIT, Duke, and the University of Chicago were not founded in the Northeast and have no connection to the original athletic conference, yet by virtually every measure of research output, selectivity, faculty distinction, and graduate outcomes, they are peers — or rivals — of any Ivy League school. In some respects, the “Plus” schools have outpaced the Ivies: MIT and Stanford consistently rank above most Ivy League universities in global research rankings, and Duke’s professional schools in law, medicine, and business are regarded as equals to their Ivy counterparts.

In admissions, Ivy Plus schools are broadly comparable to the Ivy League in selectivity, though there are meaningful differences in process and emphasis. The Ivy League is split in its early admissions approach: Harvard, Princeton, and Yale offer Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA), a non-binding but restrictive option, while Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Penn offer binding Early Decision. Among Ivy Plus schools, Duke and Northwestern offer binding Early Decision, while MIT offers non-restrictive Early Action. Stanford offers Restrictive Early Action (REA), which is non-binding but limits other early applications. The University of Chicago is unique in offering both non-binding Early Action and binding Early Decision rounds, giving applicants additional flexibility. Admissions data consistently shows higher acceptance rates in early rounds at many of these institutions, although this partly reflects differences in applicant strength. For example, Brown has recently admitted roughly 15–20% of Early Decision applicants compared to under 6% overall.

Acceptance rates across both Ivy League and Ivy Plus schools have converged at historic lows, typically ranging from around 3% to 7% at the most selective institutions. However, Cornell and Dartmouth among the Ivies, and Duke and Chicago among Ivy Plus schools, tend to admit at slightly higher rates than Harvard, Stanford, or MIT. One notable distinction is institutional character: MIT and Caltech place a stronger emphasis on STEM preparation than most Ivy League schools, while the University of Chicago is known for its focus on intellectual curiosity, reflected in its distinctive application essays. In practice, many highly competitive applicants apply to a mix of Ivy League and Ivy Plus institutions, treating them as a single peer group.

Ivy Plus List

School	Location	Founded	Distinguishing academic strengths	Official page
Brown University	Providence, Rhode Island	1764	Known for the Open Curriculum, giving undergraduates unusually high freedom in course selection and academic design.	https://www.brown.edu/
Columbia University	New York City, New York	1754	Distinguished by Columbia College’s Core Curriculum, a long-standing common academic programme spanning literature, science, philosophy, music, and art.	https://www.columbia.edu/
Cornell University	Ithaca, New York	1865	Notable for its scale and breadth across disciplines and its identity as New York State’s federal land‑grant institution, supporting strength in both theoretical and applied fields.	https://www.cornell.edu/
Dartmouth College	Hanover, New Hampshire	1769	A research university with a strong liberal arts orientation in undergraduate education, emphasising interdisciplinary exploration as a core part of the student academic experience.	https://home.dartmouth.edu/
Harvard University	Cambridge, Massachusetts	1636	A comprehensive, research-intensive university; its official messaging foregrounds world-class faculty and groundbreaking research and innovation across disciplines.	https://www.harvard.edu/
Princeton University	Princeton, New Jersey	1746	Its mission statement highlights scholarship, research, and teaching with a distinctive emphasis on undergraduate and doctoral education among world-leading universities.	https://www.princeton.edu/
University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1740	Particularly distinguished by its large ecosystem of professional education alongside a major research-university footprint.	https://www.upenn.edu/
Yale University	New Haven, Connecticut	1701	Undergraduates are organised into residential colleges, designed to combine the intimacy of a small college with the resources of a major university.	https://www.yale.edu/
Stanford University	Stanford, California	1885	Stanford’s official facts describe excellence spanning seven schools; its engineering school explicitly positions itself as a driver of innovation that helped shape what is now Silicon Valley.	https://www.stanford.edu/
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge, MA	1861	Education, research, and innovation alongside technology-driven societal impact.	https://www.mit.edu/
Duke University	Durham, North Carolina	1838	Notable for strength in policy and applied problem-solving, with the Sanford School of Public Policy among its flagship academic units.	https://www.duke.edu/
University of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1890	Its economics department highlights major affiliated research centres such as the Becker Friedman Institute.	https://www.uchicago.edu/

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