A New Factor in Your College Decision: Does the School Help Save the Planet?

In the ever-expanding universe of “best of” lists for higher education, parents and students can consult rankings to determine everything from colleges that deliver the most academic bang for the buck to universities that have the coolest dorms, the most active social scenes, and top intramural athletic programs.

Now there’s a ranking for colleges and universities that help save the planet.

On Monday Sierra, the magazine of the environmentalist Sierra Club, published its eighth annual list of “Ten Coolest Schools,” colleges and universities that have integrated sustainability into campus operations, curricula, and student lifestyles. The 10 schools, according to Sierra, have “displayed a deep and thorough commitment to protecting the environment, addressing climate issues, and encouraging environmental responsibility.”

The rankings, a joint project of Sierra and the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, are produced using data collected from a detailed voluntary survey of 150 colleges and universities. Participating colleges outlined their environmental practices—recycling programs on campus, for example, or energy usage guidelines for administrative offices, or whether the cafeterias use locally grown food.

The methodology also included whether the school’s curriculum included courses, studies, or research on environmental sustainability.

“For eight years Sierra magazine has encouraged America’s colleges and universities to fully embrace their unique and multifaceted role in tackling the climate crisis and protecting America’s air, water, public health, and beautiful places,” Bob Sipchen, Sierra’s editor in chief, said in a statement. “From innovative research and development, to powering campuses with wind and solar, to educating students in the most advanced thinking on sustainability, colleges and universities are leaders and models for the rest of society.”

Tops on the list: the University of California, Irvine, a perennial member of the top 10, in its first year in the No. 1 spot. Sierra cites several reasons why UC Irvine came in first, including its Sustainability Curriculum Project, its three on-campus solar energy projects, a 19-megawatt turbine cogeneration plant, and “energy-efficiency goals that are consistently exceeded.”

Other schools in the top 10 have impressive environmental credentials too.

American University in Washington, D.C., which came in second, has the city’s largest array of energy-producing solar panels. Dickinson College of Carlisle, Pa., has a student-run organic farm. Chicago’s Loyola University, the fourth-place finisher, has a degree-level Institute of Sustainability and is producing BioSoap, its own organic liquid soap, which is soon to be in use across the campus.

No. 5 in the rankings, Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., has a joint faculty-student Sustainability Council and programs on environmental justice and environmental law. Stanford University, next on the list, is divesting from coal stock, has three dozen student clubs that are environmentally themed, and raised $430 million for an environmental sustainability initiative.

The seventh-place finisher, the University of South Florida, has a range of eco-assets, including the nation’s first 20,000-watt solar charging station for electric vehicles and the Clean Energy Research Center, where students work on fuel-cell and solar technologies. Vermont’s Green Mountain College—eighth on the list and another perennial contender for the top spot—features a strong environmental curriculum and several clean-energy sources, including an electric plant powered by a 150-kilowatt, biomass-fueled steam turbine.

The last two spots are occupied by the University of Connecticut and Georgia Institute of Technology. UConn, last year’s top green school, has hundreds of environmentally themed classes, works hard to make sure students are “eco-literate,” and has extensive on-campus conservation programs. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has 150 clean-energy vehicles in its 500-vehicle fleet, 16 buildings that are certified environmentally friendly, and construction plans that focus on sustainability.