Seven of the eight Ivy League schools were founded before the American Revolution. They’re old. Venerable. And rich.
Harvard is by far the oldest. It’s also the richest—and we’re not just talking a rich-for-an-American institution. We’re talking the richest university in the world. It’s peculiar, then, that wealthy alumni, and even wealthy nonalumni, appear to be in an endless contest to see who can stuff the most money into its nearly $40 billion endowment. There’s a reason Harvard has been described as a hedge fund with a university attached.
What’s true for Harvard is true to a lesser extent for its peers.* Associating oneself with Ivy League universities confers big-time status, which explains why insecure billionaires enjoy throwing money at them rather than funding other virtuous projects that could actually use their help. It explains why so many ambitious high school students go to heroic lengths to prepare what they imagine to be Ivy-worthy college application packages. And it’s no surprise that a remarkable number of grown-up newsmakers feature a BA or graduate degree from an Ivy League school or two on their résumés: achievers don’t stop achieving just because they reached the pinnacle of human achievement (acceptance to an Ivy) while still in high school. Needless to say, many of these ambitious newsmakers are not the kinds of people you’d want your children to marry, unless you hate your children.
Herewith, your QuickStatsTM for the eight Ivy League universities:
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Founded 1636
Motto: Veritas (Truth)
Body Count: Undergrads: 6,700; Grads: 15,250
Endowment: $37.6 billion
Went Coed: 1977
New Haven, Connecticut
Founded 1701
Motto: Lux et Veritas (Light and Truth*)
Body Count: Undergrads: 5,453; Grads: 6,589
Endowment: $25.57 billion
Went Coed: 1969
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Founded 1740*
Motto: Laws Without Morals Are Useless*
Body Count: Undergrads: 10,406; Grads: 11,157
Endowment: $10.1 billion
Went Coed: 1880
Princeton, New Jersey
Founded 1746*
Motto: Dei Sub Numine Viget (Under God’s Power She* Flourishes)
Body Count: Undergrads: 5,277; Grads: 2,697
Endowment: $22.72 billion
Went Coed: 1969
New York City, New York
Founded 1754
Motto: In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen (In Thy Light Shall We See Light* )
Body Count: Undergrads: 8,712; Grads, Professional, Medical: 22,605
Endowment: $9.64 billion
Went Coed: 1983
Providence, Rhode Island
Founded 1764
Motto: In Deo Speramus (In God We Hope*)
Body Count: Undergrads: 6,320; Grads, Medical: 2,753
Endowment: $3.3 billion
Went Coed: 1971
Hanover, New Hampshire
Founded 1769
Motto: Vox Clamantis in Deserto (A Voice Crying Out in the Wilderness*)
Body Count: Undergrads: 4,200; Grads: 2,000
Endowment: $4.7 billion
Went Coed: 1971
Ithaca, New York
Founded 1865
Motto: I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.*
Body Count: Undergrads: 14,315; Grads: 5,265; Professional: 2,324
Endowment: $6.03 billion
Went Coed: 1865 (coed at founding)