Pitt no longer a ‘new Ivy’ according to Forbes annual ranking

Pitt was omitted from this year’s Forbes Magazine “New Ivies” list after being named for the first time in 2025.

Forbes’ annual “New Ivies” list — started three years ago — ranks 20 public and private colleges whose graduates are highly rated by employers. This year’s list was released in early April, featuring a few new and returning entries but lacking a consecutive nod for Pitt. Universities, including Pitt, often publicize the recognition widely, but names on this year’s list say rankings aren’t everything.

To build this year’s list, Forbes started with every four-year public and private nonprofit college in the U.S. and removed traditional Ivy League schools along with Stanford, MIT, Duke, the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins. Schools then had to meet enrollment and admissions-rate thresholds and demonstrate that at least half of their students submitted SAT or ACT scores. Forbes pulled the latest numbers from the National Center for Education Statistics, which were for the entering class of 2024. 

After considering standardized test and admissions criteria, the remaining candidate schools were listed in a survey sent out to C-suite and hiring executives which asked them to rank graduates of individual schools.

All public colleges on the 2026 list had an undergraduate admissions rate of 50% or less. Pitt’s acceptance rate was approximately 58% in 2024, given 60,898 first-time first-year applicants on the Pittsburgh campus and 35,372 of those admitted.

In 2023, it was just under 50%.

For public schools that made the list, the median SAT score was 1460 and ACT was 31. For the 2024-2025 year, Pitt had a median SAT score of 1360 and a median ACT score of 31. 

Pitt did not respond to a request for comment on its absence from this year’s list.

Forbes Magazine declined to comment on any inquiries beyond its published methodology. 

Similar to Pitt, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign also made the list in 2025 but not in 2026. On the other hand, the University of Florida and the University of Wisconsin-Madison both returned to the list after their initial 2024 appearance and 2025 disappearance.

Although universities often post their “New Ivy” status in press releases, many universities expressed to The Pitt News that they hardly regard it and other rankings as their top priority.

UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas said the university does not put much stock in recognitions like the Forbes “New Ivies” list. 

“Overall, UW-Madison is glad to be recognized for its excellence, though we note that we typically take rankings with a grain of salt,” Lucas said. 

Lucas said UW-Madison suggests that prospective students and families use them as just one data point among many to make their decision about where they want to attend college. 

Illinois Urbana-Champaign spokesperson Patrick Wade said that it “does not engage with this Forbes survey” or measure its impact.

“Rankings alone do not capture a university’s true impact on its students, staff, faculty, alumni, and others who benefit from its mission,” Wade said.

University of Florida spokesperson Steve Orlando said although being on the list is a nice recognition, it’s “one of many rankings.”

“Universities should pay attention to rankings because students and their families certainly do, but higher education leaders should focus first and foremost on providing students with an excellent educational experience,” Orlando said.

He also emphasized that the University of Florida’s approach to education would not change based on the list. 

“Rankings methodologies change frequently — but UF has worked hard to ensure our graduates are well-qualified to enter the workforce as leaders, especially in the context of AI,” Orlando said. 

This year’s survey asked executives how AI is reshaping their hiring plans. According to Forbes, nearly 25% of respondents said AI would reduce their need for entry-level college graduates and 60% said it would change their staffing needs.

Orlando reasoned that its return to the list correlates with its AI initiatives. 

“We think of it as a nice recognition of the terrific work being done by our remarkable faculty, as well as a recognition of the value of our “AI Across the Curriculum” initiative,” Orlando said.