A term coined by Richard Moll in his 1985 book entitled, 'The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Undergraduate Colleges". According to Moll, a public ivy is a public university or college that provides an ivy league collegiate experience at a public school price.
The eight original public ivies are as follows:
A later book entitled, "THE PUBLIC IVIES: America's Flagship Public Universities" (ISBN: 0060953624) by Howard and Matthew Greene
of Greene's Guides also include in the list: