Little Ivies Information

The Little Ivies are an unofficial group of small, academically competitive private liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States.[nb 1] The term is occasionally used to describe the indefinite grouping of private liberal arts colleges. Certain historically black colleges, Jesuit universities, Southern universities and public universities have similarly adopted unofficial groupings as "ivies".

According to Bloomberg, the Little Ivies are also known for their large financial endowments, both absolutely and relative to their size. The term is generally and most associated with the colleges of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), with select schools from the Liberty League, Patriot League and the Centennial Conference.

Among the Little Ivies are the "Little Three", a term used by Amherst College, Wesleyan University and Williams College, and "Maine Big Three", a term used by Colby College, Bates College and Bowdoin College. The term is inspired by the "Big Three" Ivy League athletic rivalry between Harvard, Princeton, and Yale despite there being no academic, athletic or historical relationship between the liberal arts colleges and the Ivy League universities.

Amherst College, Wesleyan University and Williams College joined Bowdoin College to found the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in 1971 along with Bates College, Colby College, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, Tufts University, Trinity College and Union College. Union withdrew in 1977 and was replaced by Connecticut College in 1982.

A 2016 article by Bloomberg Businessweek lists the members of the Little Ivies as:

The Little Ivies are also sub-grouped by the following consortia:

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