List of Ivy League Schools - Best Value Schools (2023)

FAQs

What is the most affordable Ivy League school? ›

The cheapest Ivy League school is Princeton University, with a $50,340 yearly tuition, and a net price (the average price students actually pay) of $16,192.

Campus happiness: Brown is widely known as the happiest Ivy, perhaps because of students' freedom to choose courses with almost complete autonomy. Students report feeling less competition amongst themselves and an overall sense of campus community.

Based on the information provided above, you probably noticed that Cornell University has the highest acceptance rates out of all the Ivy League schools and can therefore be classified as the easiest Ivy league school to get into.

The Hidden Ivies include many small colleges, such as Davidson College, Pomona College, Carleton College, and Oberlin College, as well as some large research universities, like Georgetown University, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Southern California.

The only reason Duke, MIT, and Stanford aren't Ivy League colleges is that they didn't excel at sports when the Ivy League was created. These 3 colleges easily rank among the top 15 best schools in the U.S., and offer similar career prospects and education standards to Ivy League schools.

Cornell University

The easiest Ivy to get into based on acceptance rate, Cornell offers over 4,000 courses through its seven undergraduate schools, meaning that students are sure to find a subject of interest to study.

Yale, and its handful of peer institutions, admits a disproportionately high number of students from a few private “prep” schools scattered around the country (but especially in the Northeast) deemed “feeder schools.” The boarding schools include Exeter, Andover and Deerfield.

What is a feeder school for Harvard? ›

Boarding schools and charter schools have been “feeder schools” to the Ivy Leagues for decades. Feeder schools are high schools where many or most students go to higher education institutions, often the most prestigious schools like the Ivy League.

“Draconian drinking rules have recently soured Dartmouth's claim to the “most fun Ivy” crown.

The Ivy League with the best campus is Princeton. It's reputed as having the prettiest campus. But beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Some people see Columbia as the most beautiful because of its gothic and classical buildings, while some will pick Cornell because of its breath-taking landscape.

1. Harvard University — 3.19% With a record-low admission rate of just 3.19% for the class of 2026, Harvard currently ranks as the most difficult school to get into. This rate reflects admission into Harvard College, the Ivy League university's undergraduate school.

Princeton University

Princeton University is the highest scoring Ivy League to make the top ten list of universities with the best financial aid packages.

None of the Ivy Leagues offer merit scholarships, but each school meets 100% of your demonstrated need. So, Princeton typically has the most generous assessments of financial need among students.

Cornell Acceptance Rate by College

The Hotel School in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business is the least competitive with an acceptance rate of 30% The School of Human Ecology has a 23 % acceptance rate, the second-highest acceptance rate of all the schools at Cornell.

Harvard University

Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the US and consistently ranks #1 hardest Ivy League to get into. Founded in 1636, Harvard offers students a world-class education from some of the most brilliant professors in the world.

Most successful Ivy League applicants have unweighted GPAs that are 3.7 range or higher. Ivy League schools use standardized tests to compare students, especially since they attract applications from around the world.

Can you get into an Ivy League with one B? ›

Realize that you don't need straight "A" grades to get into the Ivy League, but every "B" on your transcript is lessening your chance of admission. Most successful Ivy League applicants have unweighted GPAs that are up in the 3.7 range or higher (3.9 or 4.0 is more common).

The term "Little Ivies" is a nickname used to refer to a group of prestigious liberal arts schools in New England. All eleven of these small private colleges are known for the being highly-selective, offering exceptional academics and beautiful campuses.

Northwestern is not technically an Ivy. However, it rivals the Ivies in terms of its academic prestige, admissions selectivity, and research output. Alongside the University of Chicago, Northwestern is the most selective and esteemed university in the entire Midwest.

Many of the best colleges on the West Coast have Ivy League statuses. For instance, Stanford University and Claremont McKenna College are the Hidden Ivies. Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College, whereas, are the New Ivies. UC Berkeley and the University of Washington – Seattle are the Public Ivies.

Although both Harvard and MIT offer 50+ majors in different fields, MIT is more geared toward science, math, and technology, while Harvard embraces a broader range of fields, especially liberal arts and humanities majors.

EARNING POTENTIAL FOR IVY LEAGUERS

Many stats indicate that Ivy League graduates earn more on average than students who graduate from other schools, supporting the common notion that when it comes to college, you get what you pay for.

With an average acceptance rate of just above 9%, the Ivy Leagues are among the most selective schools in the World. With that in mind, it makes sense that there are only three types of students who find admission to the Ivy's: elite students.

Which high school sends most kids to Harvard? ›

Nationwide, these are the three top schools with the most graduates who registered at Harvard, Princeton or MIT from 2015-18: Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia: 96; Stuyvesant High School in New York City: 94; and Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire: 87.

Admission to the school is highly selective, with 16% of its applicants gaining admission.

The majority of the Harvard students who live in the U.S. are from Massachusetts.

The top five states are California, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas. 17% represent the first generation in their family to attend college. Admitted students come from 1,703 high schools — 58% attend public schools, 31% attend private schools, and 11% attend parochial schools.

Just 9 percent of respondents are from rural areas. Before coming to Harvard, 63 percent of respondents attended public school, most of them non-charter, while 35 percent attended private school—26 percent non-denominational and 10 percent parochial.

The most expensive high school in the U.S. is Shortridge Academy. Like many of the priciest high schools, Shortridge Academy is a residential school, which boards its students for the school year.

Overall, Yale seems to be a happier place to be. According to The Daily Beast's latest ranking of the happiest colleges — based on student opinion data and retention rates — Harvard ranked #11 and Yale was #3. This one was almost too close to call. Both offer tons of clubs, ways to socialize, and house systems.

Why Brown is the best Ivy? ›

First and foremost, it has a higher acceptance rate than many, more selective Ivies. Secondly, the open curriculum we've been discussing gives students more freedom to choose classes they're genuinely interested in, making it easier to perform well.

High Point University

High Point leads the list of the world's 10 most luxurious college institutions.

Based on the information provided above, you probably noticed that Cornell University has the highest acceptance rates out of all the Ivy League schools and can therefore be classified as the easiest Ivy league school to get into.

The most affordable Ivy League school is the University of Pennsylvania, with a $61,170 per year average cost for tuition for undergraduate programs. These college costs include tuition, general fees, clinical fees, and technology fees.

Columbia University

For 2020, Columbia University's acceptance rate is 6.0% only. This is why it is the second to the hardest Ivy League school to go to. Despite being extremely picky when it comes to accepting applicants, many high school graduates are still trying their luck.

If your family's income is less than $75,000, you'll pay nothing. Families who earn more than $150,000 may still qualify for financial aid. For more than ninety percent of American families, Harvard costs less than a public university. All students receive the same aid regardless of nationality or citizenship.

Princeton University

Princeton University is the highest scoring Ivy League to make the top ten list of universities with the best financial aid packages.

In the academic year of 2021/2022, tuition at Columbia University cost 58,440 U.S. dollars, and room and board amounted to 26,010 U.S. dollars, making it the most expensive school in the Ivy League. Yale University followed closely behind, with a tuition of 59,950 U.S. dollars and room and board of 17,800 U.S. dollars.

Which University in USA is the cheapest? ›

Most students admitted to Harvard have an unweighted GPA of 4.18 or above, so you'll need to have at least a 4.2 to be seriously evaluated. To meet the Harvard requirements, you'll have to score primarily A's on your high school courses.

Harvard College's Class of 2025 is unsurprisingly, disproportionately wealthy, just like every class before it. According to The Crimson's annual freshman survey, over a quarter of Harvard freshmen come from families that are wealthier than 94 percent of Americans.

To be considered for admission to Harvard, you must earn top grades in high school. The Harvard Crimson reports that the average reported GPA of entering freshmen in the class of 2022 was 3.90 on a 4.0 unweighted scale. According to College Data, the average weighted GPA of freshmen matriculates is 4.18.

At nearby Boston University, the school's low ranking is due to several similar factors – a lack of student confidence in administrative support for speech, a censorious campus culture, and restrictive written policies.

The term "Little Ivies" is a nickname used to refer to a group of prestigious liberal arts schools in New England. All eleven of these small private colleges are known for the being highly-selective, offering exceptional academics and beautiful campuses.

Founded in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher education in the U.S. and one of the most selective in the Ivy League.

What is the cheapest but best colleges? ›

UCLA shares the top honor among public schools this year with UC Berkeley. Four other University of California campuses are among the top 10 public universities: UC Santa Barbara (No. 7), UC Irvine (8, tied), UC San Diego (8, tied) and UC Davis (10, tied).

The US Service Academies are among the tuition-free universities in the USA. There are five United States Academies. They are U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.