While the nation’s Ivy League schools — Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Princeton University and University of Pennsylvania — are perhaps the most prestigious colleges, there are many others around the country rising in exclusivity.
Forbes Magazine recently released its annual list of the country’s “new Ivies,” and one university in Massachusetts made the list.
Forbes’ annual “new Ivies” ranking includes 10 public and 10 private universities around the country that are “attracting the best and the brightest, and graduating students that are outpacing most Ivy Leaguers in the eyes of employers.”
A drone view shows the main campus of Tufts University, after the University said federal authorities have detained an international student studying at Tufts and have revoked their visa, in Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S., March 26, 2025.
Why Forbes named Tufts a ‘new Ivy’
Tufts University is one of six colleges that are new to this year’s list of “new Ivies.”
Forbes describes the school as “a crown jewel in greater Boston’s crowded higher education market” and is “well-known for its international studies, computer science and pre-med programs.”
“Their growing reputation has also expanded their applicant pool, attracting students who once focused solely on the Ivies,” Ivy Link founder Adam Nguyen told Forbes about Tufts and two other schools on the list — Washington University in St. Louis and William & Mary.
Tufts was the only school in the Bay State to make this year’s list. Last year, Boston College was named a “new Ivy,” but it didn’t return to the list this year.
How Forbes ranked the ‘new Ivies’
Forbes said it determined this year’s “new Ivies” by compiling a list of colleges based on certain criteria requirements, including size, selectivity and test scores.
The schools that met the criteria were voted on in a survey given to employers.
The magazine said a large portion of respondents in the survey said they are more likely to hire graduates from non-Ivy League colleges now than they were five years ago. Meanwhile, only 6% of the respondents said they are more likely to hire an Ivy League graduate.
“Over the past five years, Ivy League schools have become environments where groupthink is encouraged, dissent is discouraged, and graduates emerge lacking the resilience, adaptability, and practical skills necessary for success in competitive industries,” one respondent said.
Forbes’ 10 public ‘new Ivy’ colleges
These public universities were named to this year’s “new Ivies” list by Forbes:
Georgia Institute of Technology
The University of Texas at Austin
United States Military Academy
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Forbes’ 10 private ‘new Ivy’ colleges
These private universities were named to this year’s “new Ivies” list by Forbes:
Carnegie Mellon University
Washington University in St. Louis
Melina Khan is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY Network – New England, which serves more than a dozen affiliated publications across New England. She can be reached at MKhan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on wickedlocal.com: Tufts University in MA named a ‘new Ivy’ by Forbes. Here’s why