Peer Institutions

Stakeholders across Wake Forest have frequent desire to compare the institution with data from other peers.  Given Wake’s size and complexity, the choice of which peer list to use often depends on the comparisons desired (e.g. comparisons of undergraduate only data or comparisons at the university level).  The following are frequently utilized, Wake Forest peer lists.

Lists Used for University-Level Comparisons:

IPEDS Comparison Group

The following institutions have been submitted by Wake Forest as a custom comparison group in the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

• College of William and Mary
• Dartmouth College
• Davidson College
• Duke University
• Emory University
• George Washington University
• Tufts University
• UNC Chapel Hill
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Richmond
• University of Virginia
• Vanderbilt University
• Washington and Lee University

G14

G14 is a consortium of fourteen universities formed by the Provosts of the universities, and supported by the Institutional Research offices through data exchanges and information sharing.

• Boston College
• Boston University
• Brandeis University
• George Washington University
• Lehigh University
• New York University
• Northeastern University
• Southern Methodist University
• Syracuse University
• Tufts University
• Tulane University
• University of Miami
• University of Notre Dame

University Senate Comparison Group

In 2019, a Wake Forest University Senate subcommittee used selected IPEDS institutional characteristics to create an algorithm which identified institutions most similar to Wake Forest resulting in the following list.

• American University
• Brandeis University
• Brown University
• Dartmouth College
• Emory University
• Lehigh University
• Pepperdine University
• Santa Clara University
• Southern Methodist University
• Tufts University
• Tulane University of Louisiana
• University of Miami
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Richmond
• Vanderbilt University

Board of Trustees Academic Committee

Data from the following list of institutions is reviewed annually by the Wake Forest University Board of Trustees Academic Committee.

• Boston College
• Dartmouth College
• Davidson College
• Duke University
• Emory University
• Georgetown University
• George Washington University
• Rice University
• Southern Methodist University
• Tufts University
• Tulane University of Louisiana
• UNC Chapel Hill
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Richmond
• University of Virginia
• Vanderbilt University
• Washington and Lee University

Lists Used for Undergraduate-Level Comparisons

Historic Undergraduate Cross Admit List

This lists institutions which have historically admitted undergraduate applicants who were also admitted to Wake Forest.

• College of William and Mary
• Davidson College
• Duke University
• Emory University
• UNC Chapel Hill
• University of Richmond
• University of Virginia
• Vanderbilt University
• Washington and Lee University

Financial Aid Undergraduate Comparison Group

This list represents a group of highly ranked private colleges and universities with comparable undergraduate costs of attendance.  Including cross-admit schools and schools with similar or higher levels of endowment per student, they are benchmarks for financial aid goal-setting related to increasing access for undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds.

• Boston College
• Davidson College
• Duke University
• Emory University
• Georgetown University
• Rice University
• Tufts University
• University of Notre Dame
• Vanderbilt University