Hidden Ivies: All 63 Colleges on the List, by Region, and What It Means for Your Child

The Hidden Ivies are 63 colleges and universities that two experienced college counselors, Howard and Matthew Greene, picked out as places where a strong student gets an education comparable to the Ivy League without the name recognition, and usually without the same odds. The list comes from their book The Hidden Ivies, first published in 2000 and last revised in 2016.

For parents, the list is useful for one reason: it is a ready-made set of excellent schools your child's friends may not be talking about. Most of them are small, residential and teaching-focused. Many are generous with financial aid. Several admit a far larger share of applicants than the Ivy League does.

Below is the full list of 63, grouped by region, with a link to each school's Solyo page where one exists, followed by how the list compares with the Little Ivies, the Public Ivies and the New Ivies, and what to do with it.

What makes a Hidden Ivy

The Greenes set out, in their words, to create greater awareness of the small, distinctive cluster of colleges and universities of excellence available to gifted college-bound students. They looked for selective, mostly residential schools with excellent teaching, strong advising, engaged alumni and outcomes that hold up against the Ivy League. The group historically called the Little Ivies, such as Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Swarthmore, Wesleyan and Williams, anchors the list, and the book widens it to liberal arts colleges and research universities across the country.

The third edition holds 63 schools: 34 in the Northeast, 12 in the South, 11 in the Midwest and 6 in the West.

Northeast (34)

• Amherst College
• Barnard College
• Bates College
• Boston College
• Bowdoin College
• Brandeis University
• Bryn Mawr College
• Bucknell University
• Colby College
• Colgate University
• College of the Holy Cross
• Connecticut College
• Dickinson College
• Fordham University
• Franklin & Marshall College
• Hamilton College
• Haverford College
• Johns Hopkins University
• Lafayette College
• Lehigh University
• Middlebury College
• Mount Holyoke College
• Skidmore College
• Smith College
• Swarthmore College
• Trinity College, Hartford
• Tufts University
• Union College
• University of Rochester
• Vassar College
• Villanova University
• Wellesley College
• Wesleyan University
• Williams College

South (12)

• Davidson College
• Duke University
• Emory University
• Georgetown University
• Rice University
• Sewanee: The University of the South
• Southern Methodist University
• Tulane University
• University of Richmond
• Vanderbilt University
• Wake Forest University
• Washington and Lee University

Midwest (11)

• Carleton College
• Case Western Reserve University
• Denison University
• Grinnell College
• Kenyon College
• Macalester College
• Northwestern University
• Oberlin College
• University of Chicago
• University of Notre Dame
• Washington University in St. Louis

West (6)

• Claremont McKenna College
• Colorado College
• Pomona College
• Reed College
• Stanford University
• University of Southern California

Hidden Ivies, Little Ivies, Public Ivies and New Ivies

These four labels get mixed up constantly, so here is the difference in one line each.

• Little Ivies: a small group of elite liberal arts colleges in the Northeast, such as Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Swarthmore, Wesleyan and Williams. All of them are also Hidden Ivies.
• Hidden Ivies: the 63 schools above, chosen by the Greenes for teaching quality and outcomes; mostly private, spread across the country.
• Public Ivies: state flagships judged comparable to the Ivy League on academics and value, from books in 1985 and 2001. Our Public Ivies guide lists all 30.
• New Ivies: Forbes' annual list of 20 universities that hiring executives prefer, started in 2024. See the 2026 New Ivies.

Some schools sit on more than one list. Nine of the ten private New Ivies for 2026 are also Hidden Ivies: Case Western, Emory, Georgetown, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Rice, Tufts, Vanderbilt and Washington University in St. Louis.

Why the list matters for your family

Fit over fame. Two thirds of the Hidden Ivies are liberal arts colleges with roughly 1,500 to 3,000 undergraduates. Classes are small, professors teach, and advising is personal. For a student who would get lost at a 30,000-student flagship, that is the point of the list.

Aid is often strong. Many of the private colleges here commit to meeting a family's full demonstrated need, and some are need-blind in admissions. Policies differ, so read the financial aid section on each school's page and run each school's net price calculator before you compare costs.

The odds are better than the Ivy League's, but not uniform. The list runs from schools that admit fewer than one in ten applicants to schools that admit close to half. The admission rate on each page tells you which is which.

Testing policies vary. A number of these colleges stayed test optional after 2020 while others brought scores back. Check each school's current policy; our guide to the Ivy League's 2026-27 testing policies shows how quickly that can change.

How to use the list this month

1. Pick the two regions your family would consider and open the pages for every school there. Note enrollment, admission rate and net price.
2. Shortlist six to eight that fit your child's intended major and the size of school they want.
3. Sort them into reach, match and likely with the college chances calculator.
4. Check testing policies and early application options for the shortlist; most of these colleges offer early decision, which is binding, so read our guide to early action versus early decision first.
5. Add the deadlines to the family calendar. Solyo's admission planner builds the timeline from the schools on the list.

Frequently asked questions

How many Hidden Ivies are there?

Sixty-three in the third edition of the Greenes' book, published in 2016: 34 in the Northeast, 12 in the South, 11 in the Midwest and 6 in the West.

Are Hidden Ivies easier to get into than the Ivy League?

Most are, and several admit a third to a half of their applicants. A handful, including Stanford, Duke, Chicago, Northwestern, Rice and Pomona, are as selective as the Ivy League or more so.

Is the Hidden Ivies list the same as the Little Ivies?

No. The Little Ivies are a smaller group of elite Northeastern liberal arts colleges. Every Little Ivy is a Hidden Ivy, but the Hidden Ivies list adds research universities and colleges in every region.

Do Hidden Ivies give good financial aid?

Many of them meet full demonstrated need, and a number are need-blind for domestic applicants, but each school sets its own policy. Use the net price calculator on each school's site and compare the result with the net price on its Solyo page.

Is the list still current?

The schools have not changed since 2016, and all of them remain strong. Admission rates, testing policies and costs have moved, so use the list to find schools and each school's page to judge them.