The Little Ivies (singularly Little Ivy) are a group of eighteen private liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States. The term has been used in reference to the Little Three athletic league, alluding to the Big Three of the Ivy League: Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. The Little Three include Amherst College, Wesleyan University and Williams College. Along with Bowdoin College, they signed an agreement in 1955 that led to the establishment of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in 1971 when these schools were joined by Bates College, Colby College, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, Tufts University, Trinity College and Union College. The term Little Ivy is generally associated with the colleges of the NESCAC and select schools from the Liberty League, Patriot League and the Centennial Conference because of their small student bodies, traits of academic excellence, associated historical social prestige, and highly competitive admission selectivity comparable to the Ivy League. According to Bloomberg, the Little Ivies are also known for their large and comparably wealthy financial endowments. As is the Ivy League, the Little Ivies are colleges and universities located in the Northeastern United States.
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Members
According a 2016 article by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Little Ivies as a whole are:
Usage of the term
Some of the associated schools are also affiliated with: