ASU named one of nation's greenest schools
Arizona State University is among 21 schools named on The Princeton Review’s “Green Honor Roll,” which recognizes colleges and universities for leading the way in sustainability.
This is the fifth consecutive year ASU was named as one of the nation’s greenest universities.
The university was noted for, among other things, having the largest collection of energy-producing solar panels at a public university; its pursuit of complete carbon neutrality; its numerous LEED award-winning buildings; and its online journal, The Sustainability Review, which is edited and published by graduate students.
ASU also is working on implementing a campus-grown food program and subsidizes the U-Pass, which offers unlimited rides on area buses and light rail.
The schools on the list received the highest possible score (99) in the Princeton Review’s Green Rating tallies this year and appear in the guide, 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition. This one-of-a-kind resource – which is published in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)'s Center for Green Schools – is the only free, comprehensive guide that focuses solely on colleges that have demonstrated a strong commitment to the environment and to sustainability. It is available at the website http://www.princetonreview.com/green-guide.
Schools also named to the list include:
• American University (Washington, D.C.)
• California Institute of Technology (Pasadena)
• California State University, Chico
• Catawba College (Salisbury, N.C.)
• Chatham University* (Pittsburgh, Penn.)
• College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Maine)
• Columbia University (New York, N.Y.)
• Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta)
• Goucher College (Baltimore, M.D.)
• Green Mountain College (Poultney, Vt.)
• Harvard College (Cambridge, Mass.)
• Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.)
• San Francisco State University (San Francisco, Calif.)
• University of California – Santa Cruz
• University of South Carolina – Columbia
• University of Washington (Seattle)
• University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh
• University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
• Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn.)
• Warren Wilson College (Asheville, N.C.)
Criteria for The Princeton Review's Green Rating cover three areas: whether the school’s students have a campus quality of life that is healthy and sustainable; how well the school is preparing its students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges; and 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, a non-profit environmental organization, in 2007-2008.
"Each of our 377 best colleges offers outstanding academics," says Robert Franek, the book's author and Princeton Review senior vice president and publisher. "We don't rank them 1 to 377, because they differ widely in their program offerings and campus culture, and that is their strength. Our goal is not to crown one college 'best' overall, but to help applicants find and get in to the college best for them."