Big Three (colleges)

Historic status

In 1908, Scotsman Robert Knox Risk wrote the following about the state of American universities during the early 20th century.

[Edward Digby Baltzell wrote: "The three major upper-class institutions in America have been Harvard, Yale, and Princeton." These colleges have, in the past, been set apart from others by a special historic connection with the White-Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) establishment. Of the three, Princeton University was traditionally the preferred choice of the Southern upper class. While describing the recruiting process for the Rough Riders, Theodore Roosevelt, mentioned the Ivy League schools including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton as target schools.

The Saturday Review found in 1963 that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton enrolled 45% of boys on the New York Social Register. That year Nathaniel Burt described the social prestige of the Big Three:

| orig-year = 1963

Burt continued, "Every city sends or has sent its Socially Registered sons to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, in some preferred order, and to one local institution. This order varies. New York sets the pattern with Yale first, Harvard second, Princeton third, then Columbia. St. Louis and Baltimore are Princeton towns. Most other cities (Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati) are Yale towns. Only Boston, and occasionally Washington, are Harvard towns."

The connection between certain colleges and social ranking is old; Jerome Karabel, in a note citing Kenneth Davis, says that "in the mid-eighteenth century, the [president of Harvard] personally listed students when they enrolled, according to ... 'to the Dignity of the Familie whereto the student severally belong'—a list that was printed in the college catalogue and that determined precedence in such matters as table seating, position in academic processionals, even recitations in class."{{cite book | url-access = registration

A further intensification of the importance of the Big Three occurred during the 1920s; According to E. Digby Baltzell,{{cite book

Ivy League schools including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton have in the past been regarded as the goals for many children in WASP circles. Some educators have attempted to discourage this fixation. Jay Mathews, author of Harvard Schmarvard, addresses seniors obsessed with Ivy League schools with the analysis: “It does not matter where you go to school, it matters what you do when you get there and what you do after you graduate.”

Rankings

Main article: College and university rankings

''U.S. News & World Report''

The "Big Three" schools: Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are often rated among the top three institutions in the National Universities category along with Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over the eighteen years ending with the 2018 rankings, U.S. News named as the best national university Princeton eleven times, Harvard twice and the two schools tied for first five times.

Economic diversity

As Jerome Karabel, a Harvard graduate and the author of The Chosen detailing the history of the admissions process at HYP, noted:

More recently, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton instituted no-loan financial aid policies which provide students with need-based aid from private funds held by the universities. This enables greater attendance from the poorer classes than Pell Grant statistics would indicate, since many recipients of university grants do not receive Pell Grants.

As an athletic association

The athletic agreements among the three universities were first formalized in 1906, although their [football teams had been engaging in three-way competitions, which newspapers had been referring to as "HPY," since 1878. (Princeton and Yale first played in 1873, Harvard and Yale in 1875, with Harvard and Princeton first meeting in 1877.) The Big Three teams had an outsized hold on popular culture as they dominated college football during its early formative years, when there were few competing spectator sports besides fledgling professional baseball teams. In 25 seasons spanning 1869 through the 1894 title for the University of Pennsylvania, the consensus national champion was either Princeton (16 titles), Yale (13) or Harvard (2). Football between Harvard and Yale was suspended for two years after the 1894 game in Springfield, Massachusetts was so violent that it was referred to as "The Springfield Massacre." Other sports including baseball and crew were suspended as well. The Big Three made further formal agreements in 1916 and 1923, and although in part they have now been superseded by the Ivy League, formed for football in 1945 and for other sports in 1954, the three universities still sponsor events that involve only themselves.

The first Big Three agreement in 1906 was the result of a conference on football called by President of the United States and Harvard alumnus Theodore Roosevelt in October 1905 as a result of deteriorating relations, caused once again by increasing violence of play, more recently between Harvard and Princeton. The agreement of June 1916, the Triple Agreement, was originally proposed by President and Princeton alumnus Woodrow Wilson in December 1909 out of a desire to reduce injuries, and took several years to come to fruition, resulting in common eligibility requirements. The Three Presidents' Agreement addendum of January 1923 covered financial arrangements, scouting and scholarships, among other things. In 1926, tensions arose once more after Princeton had shut out Harvard for three consecutive games by a cumulative score of 82-0. This led to a hiatus in games between Harvard and Princeton which caused Big Three competition to be suspended for eight years, although Yale continued to play both opponents during that period.

Big four

Before the American Civil War, Union College was one of a "big four" along with Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Student attrition due to the Civil War and a scandal over college finances led to a decline at Union that caused it to lose ground and drop from the group.

References

References

1. Synnott, Marsha G. [http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1976/JSH0302/jsh0302i.pdf The "Big Three" and the Harvard-Yale Football Break, 1926-1934] {{Webarchive. link. (August 7, 2010 .)
2. Risk, Robert K.. (1908). "America at College". John Smith & Son.
3. Lieber, Francis. (1833). "Encyclopædia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, History, Politics". Carey, Lea and Carey.
4. Roosevelt, Theodore (1899) '''The Rough Riders,''' {{Gutenberg
5. (November 15, 1963). "Big Three Now Enroll 45% Of Social Register Students". Harvard Crimson.
6. Story, Ronald. (1980). "The Forging of an Aristocracy: Harvard and the Boston Upper Class, 1800-1870". Wesleyan University Press.
7. Karabel, op. cit, Part I, ''The Origins of Selective Admissions, 1900-1933''
8. "2019 Best National Universities – US News Rankings".
9. "National University Rankings | Top National Universities | US News Best Colleges".
10. Karabel, Jerome. (2005-09-04). "The Chosen Few". The Boston Globe.
11. Arenson, Karen W.. (January 15, 2008). "Yale Plans Sharp Increase in Student Aid". The New York Times.
12. (February 5, 2001). "University approves "no-loan" financial aid program". The Daily Princetonian.
13. Rimer, Sara. (December 10, 2007). "Harvard Steps Up Financial Aid". The New York Times.
14. "Harvard announces sweeping middle-income initiative".
15. "Recognized National Championships by Year".
16. Archibold, Randal C.. (July 30, 2006). "Off the Beaten Path". The New York Times.