ASU named one of nation's best, greenest universities

The Princeton Review has named Arizona State University as one of “the best 376 colleges” in the United States and one of the best western colleges in its 2012 just-released guide.

The Princeton Review selects the colleges and universities featured in its guide primarily based on its high opinion of their academics. Its staff also monitors colleges continuously and annually collects data on more than 2,000 schools, meets with or talks to hundreds of college administrators, and considers feedback about colleges from students, parents and educators.

For the fourth consecutive year, ASU also was named as one of the nation’s “greenest universities.”

The Princeton Review named 16 colleges to its "2012 Green Rating Honor Roll" – a list of colleges that received the highest possible score (99) in its Green Rating tallies this year.

In addition to ASU, the list includes (in alphabetical order) 
American University College of the Atlantic, Dickinson College, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard College, Northeastern University, Oregon State University, San Francisco State University, State University of New York - Binghamton University, University of California – Santa Cruz,
 University of Maine at Orono, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point,
 Virginia Tech and Warren Wilson College.

Criteria for The Princeton Review's Green Rating cover three areas: 1) whether the school’s students have a campus quality of life that is healthy and sustainable; 2) how well the school is preparing its students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges; and 3) the school's overall commitment to environmental issues. 

The institutional survey for the rating included questions on energy use, recycling, food, buildings, and transportation as well as academic offerings and action plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Princeton Review developed its Green Rating with ecoAmerica (www.ecoamerica.org), a non-profit environmental organization, in 2007-08.

ASU was noted for, among other things, having the largest collection of energy-producing solar panels at a public university; its School of Sustainability, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees; and its financial support of bus and light rail passes for students and employees.