Public Ivy

Alumni Hall (Miami U)

Central Campus Diag (U of Michigan)

Old Well (UNC-Chapel Hill)

Rotunda (U of Virginia)

Sather Gate (UC Berkeley)

UT Tower (U of Texas)

Williams Hall (U of Vermont)

File:Wren1.jpg

Wren Building (College of William and Mary)

"Public Ivy" is a colloquialism for a state-funded institution with excellent academics. Richard Moll defined the term to mean a public institution that "provide[s] an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price." The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education^[1] characterized them as "successfully competing with the Ivy League schools in academic rigor... attracting superstar faculty and in competing for the best and brightest students of all races." Neither source suggests that Moll's eight Public Ivies have the social prestige which characterizes the colleges of the eight Ivy League universities. The term has been used in college guides describing the top public universities. Many public ivies are also so-called "flagship institutions" of a state, due to the perception of them being the best public university in a particular state.

The Public Ivies

The phrase "Public Ivy" was coined by Richard Moll in his book The Public Ivys: America's Flagship Undergraduate Colleges (1985, ISBN 0670582050). According to Moll, public Ivies are public institutions that "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price." Moll was the director of admissions at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and traveled the nation examining higher education and in particular, identified the eight public institutions that he thought had the look and feel of an Ivy League university. A later book titled The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities (2001, ISBN 006093459X) by Howard and Matthew Greene of Greene's Guides expanded upon the list in the first book.

From Moll (1985):

• College of William and Mary
• Miami University
• University of California system ^[2]
• University of Michigan
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Vermont
• University of Virginia

From Greene's Guides (2001), additional schools:

• Binghamton University
• Indiana University Bloomington
• Michigan State University
• The Ohio State University
• The Pennsylvania State University
• Rutgers University
• University of Arizona
• University of Colorado at Boulder
• University of Connecticut
• University of Delaware
• University of Florida
• University of Georgia
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Iowa
• University of Maryland, College Park
• University of Minnesota
• University of Washington
• University of Wisconsin

The Greenes also compiled a list in Hidden Ivies, Thirty Colleges of Excellence (2000, ISBN 0060953624).

Other schools are sometimes referred to as Public Ivies as well. For example, based on U. S. News and World Report rankings, the JBHE (op. cit.) opines that, in addition to the above, Georgia Tech could also be considered a "Public Ivy". Though not on either of the above lists, the motto of Murray State University is "Kentucky's Public Ivy University." SUNY Geneseo, of the State University of New York system, also describes itself as a "Public Ivy."^[3]

Academic comparisons

Five of the top public universities rank among the top 30 national universities in the U.S. News & World Report rankings for 2006. Public universities have accomplished significant achievements, especially in their graduate-level and research programs. The competitiveness of Public Ivies research prowess compared to all universities in the US, Private Ivy or otherwise, is researched and published in the Top American Research Universities by University of Florida TheCenter and the Academic Ranking of World Universities. However, in contrast to the U.S. News rankings, these rankings emphasized academic research and reputation, instead of softer factors lacking at state-funded institutions: financial resources, faculty resources, retention, and alumni giving rates.

U.S. News ranks Berkeley's mechanical engineering program higher than that of any Ivy[4]; all three of the top-ranked pharmacy programs (UCSF, University of Texas—Austin, and UNC-Chapel Hill) are at public universities[5]. Still, as undergraduate colleges, U.S. News generally gives them a ranking below those of the Ivy League. For example, in 2006, the highest-ranked "public Ivy" (Berkeley) ranked 20th, while the lowest-ranked member of the Ivy League (Brown) ranked 15th.[6] Nevertheless, the refusal of both the Ivies and the "Public Ivies" to publish standardized test results, such as LSAT, MCAT, GMAT and GRE scores, for their students makes objective academic comparisons difficult.

Many Ivy League universities boast lower acceptance rates than top public universities, and for some of these universities, incoming students have higher GPA and standardized test scores. However, as recently as 1992, both the number of applications were higher and the acceptance rates were lower at 4 out of 8 institutions of Moll's "Public Ivies" than at least one member of the Ivy League.^[7]

Athletic comparisons

One sharp distinction between the Ivy League and most "Public Ivies" is their approach to athletics. One of the Ivy League's distinguishing characteristics is its prohibition on the awarding of athletic scholarships; athletes may only receive the same need-based financial aid to which they would be entitled if they did not play a sport. In contrast, many of the "Public Ivies" engage in widely popular, quasi-commercial athletics that, in a few cases, make significant contributions to the university's revenue. Most participate in major athletic conferences such as the Big Ten or Pac 10; award athletic scholarships; and rely on profits, if any, from large-scale football and men's basketball programs to support the athletic department as a whole (College of William and Mary, Miami University and University of Vermont are exceptions, as their athletic programs remain quite modest but award scholarships nonetheless).

See also

• Ivy League
• Jesuit Ivy
• Little Ivies
• Southern Ivies

Notes and references

1. ^ Comparing Black Enrollments at the Public Ivies, JBHE article
2. ^ Moll's book considered the entire University of California system as one institution.
3. ^ Geneseo using "Public Ivy" to describe itself.
4. ^ U.S. News and World Report 1993 College Guide - June 4, 1993.