Note: As of publishing, the 2023 rankings for Forbes were their most current.
Ivy League rankings discussion
“The Big Three” rank among the top Ivy League schools on nearly every list
Historically, “The Big Three”—Harvard, Yale, and Princeton—have comprised the top three institutions across the board. However, recently Columbia has occasionally made an appearance in the top 3 on some lists.
Selectivity is associated with each school’s desirability. The more selective a school is, the more likely it is that your child will list it as their dream school. Moreover, graduate programs, employers, and others who might one day evaluate your child’s resume will view higher-ranked schools slightly more favorably than lower-ranked ones. That said, all Ivy League schools are excellent. Evaluators will be impressed by your child’s attendance of any of them.
Overall rankings are lacking when it comes to determining “fit”
Most people would agree that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are considered the most elite and prestigious Ivy League schools. However, based on your child’s subjects of interest, preferred setting, and opportunities, some schools might be a better fit than others.
For instance, if your child is interested in studying political science or drama, Yale would be an excellent choice. On the other hand, if your child wants to pursue engineering or hotel management, Cornell might be the better fit for them.
In addition, it’s important to consider each school’s setting when applying to Ivy League schools. Penn, for instance, might offer more immediate access to working with low-income communities than Princeton. Moreover, whether your child wants to attend school in an urban, suburban, or rural setting should influence their choice on where to apply. For example, do they want to live in a big city or be as close to nature as possible?
Student body size is another meaningful variable for your child to think about. Most of the Ivy League schools enroll somewhere between 4,000 and 8,000 undergraduate students, while Cornell is an outlier, typically enrolling over 10,000 undergrads. Whether your child wants to be part of a relatively small or large student body might contribute to their overall happiness and social opportunities during college.
Finally, campus culture varies from school to school. For example, Harvard promotes close relationships among students through its residential college system, whereas Brown is widely regarded as the most progressive Ivy League school.
Ivy League schools aren’t the only prestigious schools in the country
Although the Ivy League is often used synonymously with “best colleges”, there are a number of other institutions that are just as academically and reputationally elite. In other words, your child does not have to attend an Ivy League school in order for them to be considered among the country’s highest-achieving students.
While not an exhaustive list, “Ivy Plus” universities like Stanford, MIT, University of Chicago, Duke, Caltech, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Emory, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Georgetown are considered as prestigious as various Ivy League schools. Public Ivies (such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, and the University of Michigan) and elite liberal arts colleges (like Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore) are also widely esteemed. Depending on your child’s preferences, some of these schools might provide even better fits.
Want to learn what it takes to get into Ivy League schools?
Click below to review our school-specific guides to help your child get into their top-choice Ivy League schools:
Appendix: Ivy League rankings methodologies
Forbes
Alumni salary: 20%
Debt: 15%
Return on investment: 15%
On-time graduation rate: 15%
American leaders: 15%
Retention rate: 10%
Academic success: 10%
(Learn more details about the Forbes methodology here.)
Niche
As of September 2023, Niche does not detail the percentage weight assigned to various factors it considers when ranking schools. However, you can learn more details about the Niche methodology here.
U.S. News & World Report
Graduation and retention rates: 16%
First-year retention rates: 5%
Graduation rate performance: 10%
Social Mobility
Pell graduation rates: 3%
Pell graduation performance: 3%
First-generation graduation rates: 2.5%
First-generation graduation performance: 2.5%
Borrower debt: 5%
College grads earning more than a high school graduate: 5%
Peer assessment: 20%
Faculty resources
Faculty salaries: 6%
Student-faculty ratio: 3%
Full-time faculty: 2%
Financial resources: 8%
Standardized tests: 5%
Faculty research (National Universities only)
Citations per publication: 1.25%
Field weighted citation impact: 1.25%
The share of publications cited in the top 5% of the most cited journals: 1%
The share of publications cited in the top 25% of the most cited journals: 0.5%
(Learn more details about the U.S. News methodology here.)
Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education
Outcomes: 40%
Resources: 30%
Engagement: 20%
Environment: 10%
(Learn more details about the Wall Street Journal methodology here.)
