Education

A Mass. university again made Forbes’s ‘New Ivies’ list

The list aims to show which schools are best at preparing students for the tough job market.

The Tufts University campus. Lane Turner / The Boston Globe, File

April 17, 2026 | 11:20 AM

1 minute to read

As new college graduates brace for one of the toughest job markets in years, one New England institution — Tufts University — is earning recognition for preparing its students.

For the second year in a row, Forbes included Tufts on its “New Ivies” list (now in its third year), along with private universities such as Carnegie Mellon, Emory, Georgetown, and Northwestern.

The designation highlights 10 private and 10 public schools whose graduates, employers say, are especially well-prepared for today’s hiring demands.

An analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that the unemployment rate for college graduates ages 22 to 27 rose to 5.6% at the end of last year, up from 4.1% at the end of 2022. Among those working, more than 40% held jobs that didn’t require a college degree, the highest share since 2020.

To assess which schools are best equipping students for this landscape, Forbes surveyed more than 100 C-suite and hiring executives about their impressions of new graduates and how AI is reshaping early-career roles.

Nearly a quarter of respondents said AI would reduce their need for entry-level college hires, while 60% predicted AI would alter their staffing needs more broadly.

The universities that made the “New Ivies” list, Forbes said, are those “rushing to prepare their students and adapt their curriculum” to meet employer expectations and technological change.

Forbes first created the list in 2024 amid rising skepticism about whether traditional Ivy League degrees still produced the strongest candidates. That skepticism remains: 37% of executives surveyed said they are less likely to hire Ivy League graduates than they were five years ago.

In a statement, Tufts said it was “grateful” to be recognized again on the list.

This distinction, along with LinkedIn declaring Tufts as one of the best universities that sets graduates up for long-term career success, “underscores Tufts’ commitment to academic excellence, innovative research, and preparing graduates to lead with purpose and impact,” the statement said.

With campuses in Medford, Somerville, Boston, and Grafton, Tufts has approximately 7,000 undergraduate students and roughly 5,700 graduate and professional school students.