Amherst College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College began an official conference rivalry in 1899 to compete in numerous sports. The schools in the conference played for what was called the "Little Three" Championship, so they each became known as a "Little Three" school. The combination of the schools' locations, academic reputations and their early conference name has contributed to the identification of each of the schools as a Baby Ivy.
The New England Small College Athletic Conference was formed in 1971 and currently includes: Amherst College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, Colby College, Connecticut College, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, Trinity College, Tufts University, Wesleyan University and Williams College. These schools have also been referred to as Baby Ivy colleges because of their size, academic standards, location and athletic conference membership.
In 2009, Howard and Matthew W. Greene compiled a list of what they consider to be 50 excellent colleges in a book titled "The Hidden Ivies." The book points to small colleges and universities that offer quality education for gifted students. The title of the book has presented another standard for labeling certain colleges and universities Baby Ivies. Bucknell University, Colgate University, Haverford College, Lafayette College, Smith College, Swarthmore College and Vassar College are some of the schools listed in the book, in addition to those mentioned.
Another standard that is sometimes applied in labeling a school a "Baby Ivy" is whether or not a particular school has made one of the annual lists of best schools in the United States. Numerous publications give annual rankings of schools based on criteria such as school size, value and employment rates for graduates. Many people consider any of the top 50 schools in the United States that are not Ivy League schools to be a Baby Ivy.