<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Locations </Th> </Tr> <P> The Ivy League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising sports teams from eight private universities in the Northeastern United States . The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group beyond the sports context . The eight members are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University . The term Ivy League has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism . </P> <P> While the term was in use as early as 1933, it became official only after the formation of the NCAA Division I athletic conference in 1954 . Seven of the eight schools were founded during the United States colonial period; Cornell was founded in 1865 . Ivy League institutions account for seven of the nine Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution; the other two are Rutgers University and the College of William & Mary . </P> <P> Ivy League schools are generally viewed as some of the most prestigious, and are ranked among the best universities worldwide by U.S. News & World Report . All eight universities place in the top fifteen of the U.S. News & World Report 2017 national university rankings, including the top four schools and five of the top eight . U.S. News has named a member of the Ivy League as the best national university in each of the past seventeen years ending with the 2017 rankings: Princeton ten times, Harvard twice, and the two schools tied for first five times . </P>

Is william and mary college an ivy league school