Little Ivies

Little Ivies
(Singular: Little Ivy)

File:New England Small College Athletic Conference logo.png Most commonly associated with the NESCAC
The Little Ivies are restricted to the Northeastern United States
Named after	Ivy League, Ivy plant
Region	New England, Northeastern United States
Membership	8 private liberal arts colleges

Little Ivies (or singular: Little Ivy) is an academic and descriptive term that has been used in the United States to characterize eight private liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States. These schools tend to exhibit academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism similar to the Ivy League, but at smaller, often more rural, institutions.

Originally, it was informally used to describe members of the Ivy League that were in comparison to the Big Three, but has since been associated with schools that have smaller student bodies and exhibit traits comparable to the Ivy League in some way usually in academic prominence. The term is most often associated with select members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). It also includes one school drawn from the Centennial Conference due to its social prestige, history and academic rigor. The Little Ivies are restricted to colleges and universities located in the Northeastern United States.

The grouping is also linked to various consortia that some of the associated schools are members of such as the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium and the former Triangular League known as the Little Three. The term was first used in 1955 but was subsequently popularized through various lists by publications and academic pundits. All of the Little Ivies place in the top 10% of the 2016 U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and among the top schools in the Washington Monthly college rankings. U.S. News has named a member of the Little Ivies as the best liberal arts college in the country since it began ranking colleges, naming Williams College the top one in 2016. In reference to the Little Ivies, Greene's Hidden Ivies: Thirty Colleges of Excellence asserted that they have "scaled the heights of prestige and selectivity and also turn away thousands of our best and brightest young men and women."

Members

Institution	Location	Hidden Ivies (2009)	NESCAC (1971)	Acceptance Rate (2015)	US News LAC Rank (2016)	Forbes National Rank (2015)	Washington Monthly LAC Rank (2015)	Notes
Amherst College	Amherst, Massachusetts			13.7%	2	9	18	NESCAC founding, and charter member.
Bates College	Lewiston, Maine			21.4%	25	70	8	NESCAC Charter Member.
Bowdoin College	Brunswick, Maine			14.9%	4 (tie)	21	35	NESCAC founding, and charter member.
Colby College	Waterville, Maine			22.5%	19 (tie)	44	52	NESCAC Charter Member.
Middlebury College	Middlebury, Vermont			17.0%	4 (tie)	34	78	NESCAC Charter Member.
Swarthmore College	Swarthmore, Pennsylvania			12.2%	3	7	4	Competes athletically in the Centennial Conference.
Wesleyan University	Middletown, Connecticut			21.9%	14 (tie)	17	14	NESCAC founding, and charter member.
Williams College	Williamstown, Massachusetts			16.8%	1	2	13	NESCAC founding, and charter member.

History

Bates College's 1932 Ivy Class Memorial Stone Work

Amherst College's Sabrina Staue, commemorating academic excellence

Many colleges on the American Northeast participate in "planting the ivy," a custom started in the early 1800s. As Ivy naturally grows in the climate provided by the Northeast, schools in the New England Small College Athletic Conference incorporate the Ivy plant in their traditions and social gatherings. Schools in the athletic conference often participate in an Ivy Day in which an Ivy Stone is placed on the sides of academic buildings to commemorate student achievement. The term "Little Ivies," or singular, a "Little Ivy" first started being used to compare schools on the east coast that provided the student with an Ivy League caliber education in 1955. When denouncing and decrying the over-competitiveness and social snobbery of these schools, President of Swarthmore College, stated in The New York Times:

Bowdoin College's Honorary Class of 1875 Gate

Williams College's Haystack Monument

"We not only have the Ivy League, and pretty clearly understood though seldom mentioned gradations within the Ivy League, but we have the Little Ivy League, and the jockeying for position within that."

The schools within the NESCAC, are often referred to as the "Little Ivies", or singularly referred to as a "Little Ivy." Schools within specific consortia of usually three are commonly referred to as "Little Three" alluding to the "Big Three" of the Ivy League. Amherst, Williams and Wesleyan compete in a football game that has drawn numerous comparisons to the Big Game of the Ivy League, sometimes referred to "The Biggiest Little Game." Bates, Bowdion, and Colby are often referred to as the Little Three of Maine, and participate in the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium, which has also drawn comparisons to the rivalry between Harvard, Yale and Princeton. The schools within the NESCAC have also been referred to as "New Ivies" and Hidden Ivies for their gradual ascension in rankings and selectivity in admissions. Member schools have gone on to surpass their Ivy League counterparts in national and regional rankings, with Williams College being named the best liberal arts college in the United States in the 2016 Forbes ranking.

Institution	Year Founded	Founding religious affiliation	2015 Enrollment	2014 Endowment (billion USD)	2014 Endowment per student (USD)
Amherst College	1821	Congregationalist	1,795	$2.15	$1,204,000
Bates College	1855	Baptist	1,792	$0.264	$147,000
Bowdoin College	1794	Congregationalist	1,799	$1.27	$661,000
Colby College	1813	Baptist	1,825	$0.740	$406,000
Middlebury College	1800	Congregationalist	2,526	$1.08	$428,000
Swarthmore College	1864	Quaker	1,581	$1.88	$1,215,000
Wesleyan University	1831	Methodist	3,138	$0.839	$250,000
Williams College	1793	Congregationalist	2,052	$2.25	$1,098,000

Note Founding dates and religious affiliations are those stated by the institution itself. Many of them had complex histories in their early years and the stories of their origins are subject to interpretation. See footnotes for details where appropriate. "Religious affiliation" refers to financial sponsorship, formal association with, and promotion by, a religious denomination. All of the Little Ivies are private and not currently associated with any religion.

Usage of the term

See also: New England Small College Athletic Conference, Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium, and Little Three

Schools are considered Little Ivies exhibit academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism similar to the Ivy League, but are set in smaller, often more rural, areas. Most common schools associated with the Little Ivies are:

• Members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). The term is used to describe the athletic conference in general but only Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury, Wesleyan, and Williams have been referenced specifically as Little Ivies.
• The colleges of the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium (CBB), three academically selective colleges in Maine: Bates College, Bowdoin College, and Colby College. These schools are colloquially known as the "Maine Big Three", alluding to the Big Three of the Ivy League: Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.
• The colleges of the "Little Three": Amherst, Wesleyan, and Williams. This former athletic league was founded as the "Triangular League" in 1899. These colleges are selective liberal arts colleges located in New England. The term has also been used to compare the three institutions with the Big Three of the Ivy League: Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.
• Swarthmore College, due to its social prestige, history and academic rigor.

Examples of use

• The New York Times, February 10, 1955, p. 33 quotes the President of Swarthmore, describing and decrying social snobbery: "We not only have the Ivy League, and the pretty clearly understood though seldom mentioned gradations within the Ivy League, but we have the Little Ivy League, and the jockeying for position within that."
• Harvard Magazine
• Associate Justice Kennedy
• Episcopal High School of Houston
• Midwest Elite Hockey League
• The Atlantic Monthly: "Swarthmore, Amherst, Williams"
• A Small College in Maine, 1993, Calhoun, Charles mentioned "...Of the three top schools in Maine, the Bates, Bowdoin, Colby drew the most notation to what was informally characterized as a smaller Ivy League, one that provided an Ivy League education with a smaller student body."
• General Catalogue of Bates College, 1980, (n.b. ref. Faith By Their Progressive Works) was referenced, "the group seemed to draw power from their comparisons to the Ivy League operating in such a group entitled, 'the Little Ivies."... Bowdoin often drawing the connection to Harvard, Bates to Princeton, and Colby to Yale."
• The Observer of Case Western Reserve University equates the "Little Ivy League" with the NESCAC, "Mentoring program links faculty and student athletes", Matt Cannan September 22, 2006).

Other college groupings

• Quaker Consortium — an arrangement among three liberal arts colleges, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, and one research university, the University of Pennsylvania, in the greater Philadelphia area.
• Black Ivy League — informal list of colleges that attracted top African American students prior to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s
• Jesuit Ivy — Use of "Ivy" to characterize Boston College
• Public Ivies — Group of public U.S. universities thought to "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price"
• Seven Sisters — The schools of the Seven Sisters, historically women's colleges, could be considered a counterpart of the Little Ivies. Schools in this group are occasionally described as "little Ivies" themselves; for example, the Business Times of Singapore mentions "Amherst, Williams, Smith, Wesleyan and Swarthmore" as examples, and Greenes' Guides, illustrated in the chart above, ranks Vassar among the top ranked colleges.
• Southern Ivies — Use of "Ivy" to characterize universities in the U. S. South