Ivy League

American  

noun

1. a group of colleges and universities in the northeastern U.S., consisting of Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, and Brown, having a reputation for high scholastic achievement and social prestige.

---

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Ivy League colleges or their students and graduates.

Ivy League British  

noun

1. 1. a group of eight universities (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth College, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale) that have similar academic and social prestige in the US to Oxford and Cambridge in Britain

   2. ( as modifier )

      an Ivy-League education

---

Ivy League Cultural  

1. A group of eight old, distinguished colleges and universities in the East, known for their ivy-covered brick buildings. The members of the Ivy League are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale Universities; Dartmouth College; and the University of Pennsylvania.

---

Other Word Forms

• Ivy Leaguer noun

Etymology

Origin of Ivy League

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

That’s a relief for American students, who even with perfect grades, high test scores and stellar extracurriculars often face rejections from the Ivy League and other top-tier schools.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

After Kim’s first Olympic medal, she tried to ease some of the pressure at Princeton, where she relished the opportunity to just fade into the crowd among her Ivy League colleagues.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

Three other Ivy League universities, Columbia, Penn and Brown, struck deals with Trump to preserve funding that was at risk due to similar claims by the administration, rather than go to court.

From BBC • Feb. 3, 2026

The current cost to attend Yale, which is part of the academic world’s famed Ivy League, is above $90,000 per academic year, with tuition accounting for nearly $70,000 of that amount.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 29, 2026

They are mostly Ivy League graduates whose regular alumni contributions he hopes to channel into the Christian Union.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times