Understanding the 2026 New Ivies List

Forbes launched this list in 2024 for a pretty simple reason: employers were starting to question whether an Ivy League diploma still meant what it used to. The old assumption — that Harvard or Princeton grads were automatically the smartest, most prepared recruits in any hiring pool — was cracking.

So Forbes went directly to the source. They surveyed more than 100 C-suite executives and hiring managers across industries and asked them point-blank: which schools produce the graduates you actually want on your team?

Key Rules for the New Ivies List

A few ground rules to know:

• The eight traditional Ivy League schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell) are excluded — this list is about who's beating them.

• Also excluded this year: Stanford, MIT, Duke, University of Chicago, and Johns Hopkins. Forbes calls these the "Ivy Plus" schools, and they're out of the running too.

• Schools had to meet minimum enrollment thresholds and test score benchmarks to even be considered (median SAT of 1530 for private schools; 1460 for publics).

• The final 20 were chosen based on employer surveys — not academic reputation, not endowment size, not U.S. News rankings.

  
  

The 2026 New Ivies: The Full List

🏛️ Private Universities

1. Carnegie Mellon University

2. Case Western Reserve University

3. Emory University

4. Georgetown University

5. Northwestern University

6. University of Notre Dame

7. Rice University

8. Tufts University

9. Vanderbilt University

10. Washington University in St. Louis

🎓 Public Universities

1. United States Air Force Academy

2. University of Florida

3. Georgia Tech

4. UNC Chapel Hill

5. Purdue University

6. University of Texas at Austin

7. University of Virginia

8. William & Mary

9. University of Wisconsin – Madison

   
   

How AI Changed Everything About This Year's List

If you read the 2024 or 2025 New Ivies coverage and thought, "okay, cool ranking" — 2026 is a different conversation entirely.

This year, Forbes didn't just ask employers which schools they liked. They also asked: how is AI changing who you hire?

The answers were sobering:

• 25% of executives said AI would reduce their need for entry-level college grads altogether.

• 60% said AI would change their staffing needs significantly.

  
  

Read that again. A quarter of the bosses making hiring decisions believe they'll need fewer new college graduates because of AI. This isn't science fiction — this is what's already shifting in boardrooms right now.

But here's the flip side, and it's actually encouraging: employers still want humans. What they want are humans who can work alongside AI. As one executive put it to Forbes, the most valuable graduates today are those who've cultivated "uniquely human" skills: complex emotional intelligence, radical adaptability, and creative thinking — used in combination with AI tools, not in competition with them.

The schools on this list get that. Every single one of the 20 New Ivies has made AI fluency a core learning outcome for their students.

School Spotlights: What Makes These Places Stand Out

Purdue University — The AI Graduation Requirement Pioneer

Purdue doesn't just talk about preparing students for AI — it's the first university in the country to make AI working competency a graduation requirement. Every undergraduate, regardless of major, will graduate knowing how to function in an AI-driven workplace. They've also tasked every academic department with setting up industry advisory boards that refresh AI curriculum annually based on employer needs. That's not a marketing bullet point — that's infrastructure.

University of Florida — The NVIDIA Effect

UF's AI push got rocket fuel in 2020 when NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky donated $50 million to expand the university's AI research and infrastructure. The result? UF has become a national leader in AI across disciplines, not just in engineering and computer science. This is UF's second appearance on the New Ivies list.

William & Mary — The Surprise Public School

With a 34% acceptance rate (higher than most schools on this list), William & Mary makes a compelling case for students who want a rigorous, employer-respected degree without the brutal admissions gauntlet. This is their second New Ivies appearance, and they also rank in Forbes' Top 25 Public Colleges in the U.S.

Carnegie Mellon — The AI Original

Carnegie Mellon was doing AI before AI was cool. Located in Pittsburgh, CMU is consistently ranked as one of the top computer science and AI programs in the world — and employers across tech, finance, and healthcare know it. If you're interested in any field touched by technology (which is... all of them), CMU deserves serious consideration.

Georgetown — Where D.C. Is Your Campus

Georgetown's appearance on the private school list makes sense when you see what its graduates do: government, law, international affairs, consulting, finance. Location matters, and being in Washington D.C. means every internship, networking event, and guest lecturer operates at a different level. Employers notice.

What This Means for You (and Your Parents)

For Students

If you're a student: The old college strategy of "aim for the most prestigious name you can get into" is due for an update. Prestige still matters, but relevance matters more now. Ask yourself: does this school prepare me to work in a world where AI is my coworker? Does it have strong employer relationships? Do its graduates get jobs — not just degrees?

For Parents

If you're a parent: The schools on this list range enormously in cost, selectivity, and geography. Purdue has frozen tuition for 14 consecutive years. William & Mary has a 34% acceptance rate. Georgia Tech is one of the most affordable top-10 engineering programs in the country. "New Ivy" doesn't mean "another expensive long shot."

For Everyone

For everyone: Notice what Forbes is measuring. Not which school publishes the most research papers. Not which has the most Nobel Prize winners on faculty. Which schools produce graduates that employers — the actual humans writing the paychecks — want to hire. That's a refreshingly practical question, and the 20 schools on this list have earned a real answer.

The Bottom Line

The 2026 Forbes New Ivies list isn't anti-Ivy League. It's pro-reality. In an era where AI is reshaping every industry, the most valuable college degree isn't the one with the most historic name — it's the one that prepared you to think critically, adapt fast, and use every tool at your disposal.

One employer said it best to Forbes: *"The most promising talents today are beginning to emerge from institutions that prioritize intellectual rigor over inherited prestige."*

Purdue. Georgia Tech. William & Mary. Carnegie Mellon. These aren't consolation prizes. They're where tomorrow's workforce is being built.

Maybe it's time to update the bumper sticker.

Not Sure Where You Fit on This List?

That's exactly where we come in.

Knowing which schools employers love is one thing — figuring out which ones are the right fit for you is a whole different climb. The college search has never been more complex: AI is reshaping industries, employer expectations are shifting, and the old "rankings = right choice" formula just doesn't hold anymore.

At My Admissions Sherpa, we help students and families cut through the noise and build a smart, strategic college list — one that lines up with your goals, your strengths, and yes, where you'll actually thrive after graduation. Whether you're just starting to think about schools or deep in the application process, we're the guide you want on this trail.

👉 Start your journey at myadmissionssherpa.com

Sources: Forbes (April 8, 2026), University of Florida Newsroom, Purdue University Newsroom, Northern Virginia Magazine