BIG FOUR: BEFORE THE IVY LEAGUE THERE WERE FOUR COLLEGES THAT WERE CONSIDERED TO BE AMERICA’S ELITE CHOICES

The Big Four is an historic term that was used to refer to the four institutions of higher education that were considered to be the top tier in the United States in the pre-Civil War era. Its members being: Harvard University, Princeton University, Union College and Yale University.

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These were considered the bastions of America’s upper crust and the preferred destination for the bright young men graduating from prep schools of the Northeastern region and beyond. Whilst Harvard, Yale and Princeton continued to build upon their reputation and have firmly established themselves as global powerhouses, Union College has remained a small and, relatively, unknown school, albeit still a preferred destination for many scions of Brahmin, Mainline, and Knickerbocker families of the Northeast. Once upon time, however, these were the four largest institutions in terms of the size of their student bodies, in terms of the numbers of graduates that counted these as their alma mater, and in terms of the prestige they garnered. They were the four institutions that had, arguably, the biggest influence on early American collegiate culture.

In the early days of the American state, there were relatively few higher-level educational institutions, and those that existed had far, far smaller enrolment numbers than they boast today. Indeed, by the start of the 19^th Century there were only thirty-six such schools and colleges. This is clearly a stark contrast to the range of choice available to prospective students in the United States today – the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)  reports that in the academic year 2020-21 a sum of 3,931 Title IV degree-granting institutions were in operation within the country with a total of 5,916 tertiary educational institutions (including non-degree-awarding schools). This is down from a peak of 4,726 Title IV degree-awarding institutions, in the academic year 2012-13 and a total of 7,253 post-secondary Title IV institutions.

By the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the American Republic, just sixteen tertiary educational institutions were in existence, of which nine had been chartered as universities from the outset, the oldest of which was Harvard University (founded in 1636).  Those institutions included:

1. Harvard University (1636);
2. College of William and Mary (1693);
3. St. John’s College (1696 as a school / 1784 as a college);
4. Yale University (1701);
5. University of Pennsylvania (1740);
6. [Moravian University (1742 as a school / 1807 as a college)];
7. University of Delaware (1743);
8. Princeton University (1746);
9. Washington and Lee University (1749);
10. Columbia University (1754);
11. Brown University (1764);
12. Rutgers (1766);
13. Dartmouth College (1769);
14. College of Charleston (1770);
15. Salem College (1772);
16. Dickinson College (1783); and
17. Hampden-Sydney College (1775).

Those nine that were chartered as universities are collectively referred to as the “Colonial Colleges” and include: Harvard (founded as Harvard College); College of William and Mary; Yale (founded as the Collegiate School); Princeton (founded as the College of New Jersey);  Columbia (founded as King’s College); University of Pennsylvania (founded as the College of Philadelphia); Brown University (founded as the College of Rhode Island); Rutgers (founded as Queen’s College); and Dartmouth College. Other institutions were founded as schools, in the American academy tradition or as seminaries but would later receive a charter as institutions of higher learning.

In the subsequent years between the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and 1800, a further 20 colleges and universities were founded, including:

1. Transylvania University (1780);
2. Washington & Jefferson College (1781);
3. Washington College (1782);
4. University of Georgia (1785);
5. Franklin and Marshall College (1787);
6. York College of Pennsylvania (1787);
7. University of Pittsburgh (1787);
8. Georgetown College (1789);
9. Georgetown University (1789);
10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1789);
11. University of Vermont (1791);
12. Williams College (1793);
13. Tusculum University (1794);
14. Bowdoin College (1794);
15. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (1794);
16. University of South Carolina-Beaufort (1795);
17. Union College (1795);
18. Hartwick College (1797);
19. University of Louisville (1798); and
20. Middlebury College (1800).

Not all of the colleges that today claim a founding date that hails back to the colonial era, however, as many were actually secondary schools, seminaries, teacher training colleges or the like during the early part of their existence, as was common at the time. Many of the older universities and colleges around the world owe their foundation to a secondary school or seminary.

At the start of the 19^th Century, America’s population was largely concentrated along the Eastern seaboard, and, particularly, in the Northeastern states, as well as pockets in large cities around the American coast and the shores of the Great Lakes. The development of colleges and universities, to some extent, mirrored the growth in population centres except where specific religious communities had sought their own piece of the New World and required schools and colleges to sustain them.

Of those established tertiary institutions offering degrees or something similar, Harvard, and its Ivy League stablemate, Yale University (founded in 1701 had emerged as the largest and were considered the flagship American universities, with Princeton (founded in 1746) coming in third place.

These schools remained largely undergraduate colleges and competed against one another to attract applicants and well-regarded faculty. At the time, colleges remained exclusively men’s or women’s colleges.

Union College was founded by members of the Dutch Reformed Church community as Schenectady Academy – a school for young men. The school opened in 1785 and quickly established itself as a preferred destination for upstate New Yorkers to send their children. By 1792 the school was also operating a four-year college programme and actively seeking a charter from the State’s Board of Regents in order to award degrees. The school ended its academy programme and reapplied as Union College in 1794 as a non-sectarian institution of higher learning and was successfully awarded a charter.

The term is very much out of favour today, largely limited to marketing literature from Union College, with Harvard, Yale and Princeton more commonly referred to as The Big Three or HYP/HPY and being members of the Ivy League.

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