25 New Ivies. The nation’s elite colleges these days include more than Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Why?

It’s the tough competition for all the top students. That means a range of schools are getting fresh bragging rights.

You could call it a classic case of supply meeting demand. A generation ago, elite schools were a clearly defined group: the eight schools in the Ivy League, along with such academic powerhouses as Stanford, the University of Chicago, MIT and Caltech. Smaller liberal-arts colleges—like Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Swarthmore and Wesleyan—were the destinations of choice for top students who preferred a more intimate campus. But in the past few decades, the number of college-bound students has skyrocketed, and so has the number of world-class schools.

The demand for an excellent education has created an ever-expanding supply of big and small campuses that provide great academics and first-rate faculties.

By Barbara Kantrowitz and Karen Springen
Newsweek

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