Two Texas schools make 'New Ivy League' colleges list

Two universities in Texas have made Forbes' list of "New Ivies," a new list of the top schools beyond those with the once-coveted distinction.

Forbes reported earlier this week that "something feels distinctly off on Ivy League campuses," thanks to complaints over admissions policies, grade inflation, and university officials' responses to on-campus protests.

After disqualifying the eight original Ivy League schools – Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth and Cornell – along with "Ivy-plus" schools Stanford, MIT, Duke and the University of Chicago, Forbes used several data points like standardized test scores and surveys of hiring managers to determine the top public and private institutions in the country to replace the legacies.

The University of Texas at Austin made the list of the ten "Public Ivies" that "attract high-achievers and turn out hard-working, highly-regarded employees."

On the list of "New Private Ivies" – known for "attracting the smartest students and plaudits from employers" – is Rice University in Houston.

HOUSTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 31: Spires on the top of Sewall Hall, built in 1971 on the campus of Rice University on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023 in Houston. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Here's the complete list:

Public Ivies

Binghamton University
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Florida
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland - College Park
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
University of Texas - Austin
University of Virginia
University of Wisconsin - Madison

Private Ivies

Boston College
Carnegie Mellon University
Emory University
Georgetown University
Johns Hopkins University
Northwestern University
Rice University
University of Notre Dame
University of Southern California
Vanderbilt University

FOX 32 Chicago contributed to this report