Public Ivy Facts for Kids

The term Public Ivy is a casual way to describe some public colleges and universities in the United States. These schools are thought to offer an education and experience similar to the famous Ivy League universities. It's not an official title, and the list of schools called "Public Ivies" has changed over the years.

The idea of "Public Ivies" first came from Richard Moll, an admissions officer at Yale University. In 1985, he wrote a book called Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities. His first list included eight universities and nine "runners-up." Later, in 2001, other college guide writers, Howard and Matthew Greene, published their own book, The Public Ivies: The Great State Colleges and Universities, which listed 30 schools.

People sometimes discuss whether these "Public Ivy" schools are still as good as they used to be. Some wonder if government budget cuts are making them less strong. Others talk about how rising tuition fees might make these schools harder for some students to afford. There are also questions about whether states should pay for higher education and if students can pay back their college loans easily.

How the "Public Ivy" Idea Started
- Original "Public Ivies" List (1985)
  - Runners-Up in 1985
Later Updates to the List
See also

How the "Public Ivy" Idea Started

The idea of "Public Ivies" began with Richard Moll's book in 1985. Moll had studied at Yale University and worked in university admissions. He traveled across the United States to study different colleges. He then chose eight public universities that he felt were as good as the Ivy League schools.

Moll looked at several things to decide which schools made his list. He considered how challenging the classes were, the quality of the teachers, and how much it cost to attend. He also checked out the campus buildings, the resources available to students, how old the university was, and its important traditions.

Original "Public Ivies" List (1985)

College of William & Mary (in Williamsburg, Virginia)
Miami University (in Oxford, Ohio)
University of California (this included campuses like Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Irvine, Davis, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Riverside at the time)
University of Michigan (in Ann Arbor)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Texas at Austin
University of Vermont (in Burlington)
University of Virginia (in Charlottesville)

Runners-Up in 1985

Moll also picked nine "worthy runner-up" universities in his 1985 book:

University of Colorado Boulder
Georgia Tech (in Atlanta)
University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign
New College of Florida (it was part of the University of South Florida back then)
Pennsylvania State University (in University Park)
University of Pittsburgh
State University of New York at Binghamton
University of Washington (in Seattle)
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Later Updates to the List

The list of "Public Ivy" schools has changed over time, just like other university rankings. A big update came in 2001 when Howard and Matthew Greene published their book, The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities. They included 30 colleges and universities in their new list.