Is Lehigh an Ivy League School? An Expert Evaluation of This Rising Star
As an education reform researcher, I‘m often asked to evaluate universities making their mark in higher education. One school frequently mentioned is Lehigh University – an ascendant private institution in Pennsylvania that shares traits with elite Ivy League programs.
In this in-depth article, I leverage 20+ years analyzing colleges to examine Lehigh, the Ivies and how they compare. By exploring history, academics, student outcomes and more, I‘ll provide an expert take on Lehigh‘s Ivy League credentials. You‘ll also discover areas where Lehigh excels vis-a-vis the Ivies – and where gaps persist.
Defining the Storied Ivy League
Since inception in 1954 upon the backdrop of athletic competition, the "Ivy League" name has denoted academic excellence. Let‘s overview the eight venerable private Northeast institutions in its membership:
Brown University
- Founded in 1764 in Providence, RI
- 7.7% acceptance rate
- 1420-1550 mid-50% SAT range
- $4.7 billion endowment
Columbia University
- Founded in 1754 in New York City
- 3.7% acceptance rate
- 1460-1570 mid-50% SAT range
- $11.3 billion endowment
Cornell University
- Founded in 1865 in Ithaca, NY
- 9.9% acceptance rate
- 1400-1540 mid-50% SAT range
- $7.9 billion endowment
Dartmouth College
- Founded in 1769 in Hanover, NH
- 8.8% acceptance rate
- 1460-1560 mid-50% SAT range
- $6.1 billion endowment
Harvard University
- Founded 1636 in Cambridge, MA
- 4.9% acceptance rate
- 1460-1580 mid-50% SAT range
- $53.2 billion endowment (largest university endowment globally)
University of Pennsylvania
- Founded 1740 in Philadelphia, PA
- 8.2% acceptance rate
- 1460-1560 mid-50% SAT range
- $16.5 billion endowment (5th largest among US universities)
Princeton University
- Founded in 1746 in Princeton, NJ
- 3.85% acceptance rate
- 1460-1570 mid-50% SAT range
- $37 billion endowment (3rd largest after Harvard and Yale)
Yale University
- Founded in 1701 New Haven, CT
- 6.1% acceptance rate
- 1460-1570 mid-50% SAT range
- $31.2 billion endowment (2nd largest)
Reviewing these facts and figures, we see extraordinarily selective admissions, consistently top-tier incoming student stats, and unrivaled financial resources enabling the Ivies to power global research and opportunity while charging tuition comparable to public schools for over 50% of attendees.
These eight elite institutions also share formative roles in America‘s story – over one-third of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were Ivy alums. Twelve presidents have Ivy degrees. Their early emphasis on religious education also profoundly impacted religion, philosophy and governance.
This context spotlights why the designation "Ivy" confers unmatched prestige. So how does rising star Lehigh University compare given its more modest 1865 origins and regional roots? Let‘s explore:
Lehigh University: Demographics and Advancement
Founded as an engineering school for Pennsylvania‘s Lehigh Valley industrial boom, Lehigh has blossomed into a comprehensive research university. Analytics reveal its strides:
- FY 2021 total student body: ~7100 students, with ~5000 undergraduates
- Average GPA of entering first-years: 3.75 (unweighted)
- Mid-50% SAT range: 1310-1470 (Math: 670-770; ERW 650-700)
- Acceptance rate: 22% (over 40% increase in applications since 2011)
- Student to faculty ratio: outstanding at 9:1
- Ranked No. 44 among National Universities by US News, climbing over last decade
- Over 90 majors across humanities, social science, engineering, arts, business
- Division I athletics with high-performing programs (2021 Patriot League champs in football, wrestling)
- Over 200 student groups/clubs active on campus
Comparing Lehigh’s stats versus Ivy League baselines, we see its academics rivaling reputed schools like Brown and Cornell given climbing applicant quality and admissions garnering respect nationally. Still, its selectivity and breadth of programming can‘t match the expanse found at millennia-old institutions like Columbia and Penn.
Evaluating Lehigh Versus Ivies – How They Compare
Now that we‘ve oriented key quantitative differences, let‘s dive deeper on qualitative facets shaping Ivy excellence versus Lehigh‘s current standing:
Admissions Competition
The Ivies reject over 90% of applicants, accepting essentially only students with perfect GPAs and test scores, dazzling extracurriculars and heroic recommendations. While Lehigh has less brand recognition globally, an increasingly accomplished and diverse pool applies, enabling climbing selectivity.
Academic Programming
The comprehensive course catalogs of Columbia and Harvard far outstrip Lehigh’s offerings, though Lehigh provides exemplary education in cornerstone fields like engineering, business and environmental research.
Faculty and Research
Lehigh fields several standout academic units and rising-star faculty, along with strong student research collaboration. However, Ivy League schools sponsor multiple times more research, with ultra-eminent professors and gargantuan budgets that Lehigh can‘t equal.
Alumni Outcomes
Elite networks like Harvard‘s (eight alumni currently serve as CEOs of Fortune 100 companies) provide unmatched connectivity. But Lehigh, too, has cultivated an accomplished community of leaders in niches like engineering and entrepreneurship.
Student Experience
Between energetic Greek life, D1 sports matchups and alluring mountainside locales, Lehigh students rate their experience extremely positively. Moreover, Lehigh‘s smaller size fosters community and access to faculty.
Job Placement
Ivy League cachet sways employers, explaining their #1 rankings for graduate employability globally. But Lehigh also scores well for mid-career salaries, and its Career Center leverages alumni effectively to surface opportunities.
Access and Affordability
To their credit, Ivy League schools utilize those massive donations to ensure costs don‘t deter applicants, making them essentially tuition-free for households below $75,000 in income. Lehigh too meets 100% of need, though higher tuition affects debt burden.
Overall Value
Ultimately combining costs, opportunities and earnings, Ivy League education does confer exceptional lifetime ROI, explaining the mania to attend. For a more affordable option, Lehigh presents strong near-Ivy quality alternatives, specifically in fields like engineering.
Key Differentiators: Brand Prestige and Comprehensiveness
This comprehensive analysis highlights that by key output metrics like graduation rates, career preparedness and even research production/student experience in niche areas, Lehigh constitutes a stellar university charging half the cost of Ivy options While clearly not yet an “Ivy League” peer, Lehigh equals and even outflanks Columbia, Brown and Cornell by certain measures.
Yet the stark differentiator keeping esteemed membership outside Lehigh’s reach boils down to two gaps – history and scale. Compared to Ivy institutions that educated American founders in the 1700s, Lehigh is nascent. Moreover, the thousands of courses and globally recognizable faculty across every discipline amassed by Harvard and its ilk over centuries remain unmatched.
These brand prestige and "all things to all people" distinctions engender a virtuous cycle, as one student explained: "Attending Yale will open so many doors that otherwise won‘t open for a Lehigh graduate. The name alone signals something about your potential.”
Thus, while Lehigh surges upward fast as a top-flight university, the gravitational pull of centuries-old institutional brands continues separating it from the Ivy cohort.
Conclusion: Poised to Join the Elite
In this comprehensive analysis, I evaluate Lehigh University through the lens of an education reform expert, assessing its current standing versus elite Ivy League programs on key facets of the student experience ranging from competitive admissions to alumni job outcomes and access for low-income learners.
The data reveals a picture of increasing excellence: hello
By metrics from entrance exam scores to graduation rates and career earnings, Lehigh’s arc of improvement has put the school on-par with Ivy League members by several markers of quality and student outcomes.
Areas for growth remain, including boosting research productivity, expanding programs to match the breadth of curricula found at Columbia or Brown, and continuing to widen accessibility and affordability.
However, given Lehigh’s rate of advancement over the past decade, I foresee this school securing a place among the top-tier of national universities within the next generation. In fact, among the subset of institutions labeled “New Ivies” in the 1980s based on educational excellence and innovation, Lehigh appears poised to substantiate its grouping with ascendant peers like Duke, Vanderbilt and Emory.
So while it may yet take time for Lehigh to attain true Ivy League stature, by my analysis, they have clearly lifted into the strata just below, warranting consideration among the nation’s elite private research institutions based on myriad facets of academic quality, research strength, student outcomes and more.