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:

• University of Virginia
• University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
• College of William and Mary
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Vermont
• Miami University in Oxford, Ohio
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of California at Berkeley

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:

• Indiana University
• Pennsylvania State University
• Rutgers -- The State University of New Jersey
• State University of New York
• University of Colorado
• University of Florida
• University of Illinois
• University of Washington
• University of Wisconsin at Madison