HYP (sometimes H-Y-P or H/Y/P) is an abbreviation for Harvard-Yale-Princeton, three of the oldest universities in the United States. The term is used in the names of events, such as athletic meets, sponsored by the three schools. Each of these universities fully participates in the Ivy League, but each also sponsors events including only the HYP universities. Within the three schools, Harvard and Yale are known for having a particularly famous school rivalry. This rivalry between the two oldest of the Ivies may have something to do with the origin of the letter ordering of HYP, as opposed to an alphabetical "HPY".

The term is also sometimes used by high-school college admissions counselors and in college admissions guides because Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are often regarded as having the highest admission standards and greatest prestige out of the Ivy League universities. Hence the term is used to set apart these three universities as the most prestigious in the world, though the actual quality of the three universities is a matter of some debate (for more information, see the college and university rankings article). In 2004, Yale had the lowest acceptance rate (9.9%) among major world universities, with Harvard (10.3%) and Princeton (11.8%) coming in second and third. The 2005 U.S. News & World Report "National University" rankings placed the HYP universities in the top three spots, with Harvard and Princeton in joint first place and Yale coming in third [1]. The 2004 Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings placed Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in first, eighth, and ninth place, respectively, out of all the universities around the globe. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton hold the top three spots (in that order) in terms of largest numbers of Rhodes Scholarships won.

The September 2002 issue of Worth magazine ranked high schools on the basis of the number of students from those high schools matriculating at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Worth magazine argued that the three schools were "three of the most selective Ivy colleges; the term HYP has come to signify the elite college standard."

See also

• HYPSM
• College and university rankings

External links

• Article in the Korea Times
• Article in the British New Statesman magazine
• The history of HYP athletics
• HYP fencing in the Yale Herald
• HYP rowing crew
• HYP rowing crew from Columbia College website
• HYP swimming in the Yale Herald
• HYP track-and-field from GoPrincetonTigers.com
• Pittsburgh HYP Club