Crossword Genius

Nation state offering students an Ivy League education (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

columbia

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'nation' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'state offering students an ivy league education' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'state' could be 'ia' and 'ia' is present in the answer.
'league' could be 'l' (abbreviation) and 'l' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for columbia that I've seen before include "River - capital of South Carolina" , "British -, Can. province" , "University in New York City" , "record label" , "The C in Washington DC" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times and the Irish Times (Crosaire).
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