Ivy League schools, colleges and universities traditionally considered elite learning institutions, apparently have lost their luster with employers, according to data collected in a recent Forbes survey.

A survey of more than 380 top-level executives nationwide showed that 37% of the respondents said they were less likely to hire Ivy League graduates than they were five years ago — up from 33% of employers who said the same in last year’s survey, according to Forbes. Another 12% said they would never hire an Ivy League graduate.

With the country’s most elite private schools falling out of favor, other public universities and private institutions are enjoying newfound popularity with employers, students, and parents. Forbes calls them the “New Ivies.”

What Georgia schools are ‘New Ivies’?

For the second year, Forbes selected its New Ivies: a group of 10 public and 10 private schools that employers believe are attracting the best and brightest future professionals.

The New Ivies do not appear to be ranked in order. Georgia contributed one school to each category, with Forbes naming Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) one of the top public schools, and Emory University as a top private school.

How did Forbes pick the ‘New Ivies’?

To identify which public and private schools are eclipsing the Ivy League, Forbes compiled a list of all degree-granting, four-year public and private, not-for-profit colleges in the United States using the most recent data available from the National Center for Education Statistics. 

The eight Ivy League schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth and Cornell) and the four “Ivy plus” colleges (Stanford, MIT, Duke, and the University of Chicago) were removed from the list. The remaining colleges had to meet three criteria for inclusion. The private schools had to enroll at least 3,500 students, and the public colleges 4,000 students. Private colleges had to admit fewer than 20% of their applicants, and public colleges must admit fewer than 50%. 

The private New Ivies, according to Forbes, admit students with a median SAT of 1530 and a median ACT of 34. The public schools on the list admit students with a median SAT of 1410 and a median ACT of 32. The schools that met all three criteria were put in front of employers in a survey of subscribers to Forbes’ “C-suite” newsletter, the top executives in a company.

2025 Forbes list of 10 public ‘New Ivies’

2025 Forbes list of 10 private ‘New Ivies’

Miguel Legoas is a Deep South Connect Team Reporter for Gannett/USA Today. Find him on X and Instagram @miguelegoas and email at mlegoas@gannett.com.