The Ivy League consists of eight schools in the northeastern United States: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University. Except Cornell University, these schools were established before the North American War of Independence, and the admission standards of each institution are very strict. The records of academic and sports competitions between these schools began at the end of19th century.

The word Ivy League refers to eight university sports leagues in the northeastern United States, including: Harvard was founded in 1636, Yale was founded in 170 1, and Pennsylvania was founded in 1740, Princeton. Colombia was founded in 1754, Brown in 1764, Dartmouth in 1769 and Cornell in 1865.

The origin of the name:

There is a theory that the original name of Ivy should be traced back to 1937. Mr Stanley Woodward, a sports reporter of Tribune New York Herald, coined this term because the oldest and most elite school buildings in America are covered with ivy.

Another theory has an older explanation for this term, which comes from an earlier sports association called "Four Leagues", whose members include Columbia University, Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University.

Reference to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Ivy League School