Amid the doom and gloom that often accompanies environmental reporting, one of the brightest, most hopeful prospects on the horizon concerns today’s youth and the importance they place on sustainable, ecological practices. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the colleges and universities they choose, and the pressure student groups have placed upon administrators to adopt eco-friendly practices and incorporate sustainability into the curriculum.
Initially, many schools balked at efforts by student organizations to promote green policies on campus, but administrators soon came to realize that not only could such policies be fiscally sound, but there was a marketing advantage as well. On the program side, students have successfully lobbied for environmental topics to be integrated into courses in architecture, business, economics, political science, design, fashion, urban planning and engineering — as well as the sciences.
According to a press release from The Princeton Review:
Among almost 16,000 college applicants and parents of applicants The Princeton Review surveyed this year for its annual “College Hopes & Worries Survey,” 66% of respondents overall (and 68% of students vs. 59% of parents) said they would value having information about a college’s commitment to the environment – a 4% increase from last year’s respondents. Among that cohort, 24% of respondents overall (26% of students vs. 18% of parents) said such information would “very much” impact their (their child’s) decision to apply to or attend the school.
Recognizing this, The Princeton Review has released its 2010 Green Ratings of 697 colleges and universities. Now in its second year, the ratings are developed in conjunction with ecoamerica.com, and reflect an institution’s environmental-friendliness on a scale of 60-99. Data is self-reported and covers environmentally related policies, practices, and academic offerings during the previous academic year.
Among those reporting, fifteen schools received perfect scores of 99 and are featured in the Green Honor Roll:
- Arizona State University, Tempe
- Bates College
- Binghamton University
- College of the Atlantic
- Colorado College
- Dickinson College
- Evergreen State College
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Harvard College
- Middlebury College
- Northeastern University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of New Hampshire, Durham
- University of Washington, Seattle
- Yale University
Of course, no college ranking system is perfect, and a school doesn’t need to be “perfect” to present a viable, eco-friendly choice. A quick sampling of other schools, entered more or less at random, yielded quite a few with good results, and there are many, many more.
- Penn State University, University Park 97
- Cornell University 96
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 96
- Carnegie Mellon University 96
- University of Oregon 96
- Oberlin College 92
- Villanova University 92
- University of Miami 90
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 89
- University of Colorado, Boulder 88
- University of California, Los Angeles 88
- Kenyon College 83
- Northwestern University 81
The Green Rating for a particular institution can be found in its profile. To look up the rating for a particular school:
- Log in to princetonreview.com (or register — it’s free)
- find your college and campus using the search tool and go to its profile
- scroll down to the “Campus Life & Facilities” section and click “More”
- the Green Rating will appear in the “Key Statistics” section in the right-hand column.
Schools not reporting, or reporting insufficient data, receive a 60 with an asterisk, which can be misleading. For example, I noticed that a private university in Ohio I happen to work with, which follows fairly stringent practices and offers outstanding interdisciplinary majors in Environmental Science and Conservation Science, was rated 60*. So, like any college rating system, use this one as a guide but not as the final word when it comes to deciding on a school.
The Princeton Review web site provides additional resources where you can learn more about the rating and the benefits of attending a green college. Included are:
- Green Colleges and Quality of Life
- Green Colleges and the Economy
- Green Colleges and the School Visit
- Green Majors
- Green Rating Methodology
Photo: Old Main, Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Credit: George Chriss. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License
