AffordableSchools.net Releases Its 2015-2016 Ranking of U.S. Colleges With the Best Environmental Initiatives

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- AffordableSchools.net, a college search and rankings site that centers on unique and affordable offerings within higher education, has published a ranking of the top 25 colleges for environmental initiatives in the country.

(http://affordableschools.net/top-25-universities-environmental-initiatives/)

The University of Maryland at College Park (College Park, MD) leads the rankings, which is based on a number of prominent environmental and sustainability measures. Only schools achieving a rank of gold or better, according to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Ranking were surveyed in the rankings. Of said schools, they were ranked with equal weights given to their scores according to the EPA Green Partnership Ranking (a measure of the largest green power users among higher education) the Green Report Card Ranking, and the Sierra Club "Cool Schools" Ranking. Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA) and Loyola University Chicago (Chicago, IL) come in at second and third place respectively.

Other top colleges for environmental initiatives nationwide include:

American University (Washington, D.C.)
Appalachian State University (Boone, NC)
Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Pomona, CA)
Chatham University (Pittsburgh, PA)       
Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO)
Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
Furman University (Greenville, SC)
George Washington University (Washington, D.C.)       
Green Mountain College (Poultney, VT)       
Middlebury College (Middlebury, VT)
Portland State University (Portland, OR)
University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA)
University of California, San Diego (San Diego, CA)
University of California, Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)       
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Urbana-Champaign, IL)
University of Minnesota, Morris (Morris, MN)
University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH)       
University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)
University of San Diego (San Diego, CA)
University of South Florida (Tampa, FL)       
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (Oshkosh, WI)

According to Raj Dash, editor for the piece, "Universities are often the perfect testing ground for innovative forms of sustainability, with scientific expertise, manpower, land, and the scale to benefit from up-and-coming sustainable processes. Though the end goal of sustainability initiatives is complete sustainability, in this ranking we try to recognize that building sustainability at massive flagship institutions is often a much larger task than at smaller and specialized institutions. Even though some larger schools have much longer timelines to complete reliance on sustainable energy sources or carbon neutrality, they are also able to make a larger dent on wasteful resource use as some of the largest institutions in their given cities and states."

Notable trends include a number of smaller colleges with large amounts of land and natural resources, as well as a very good showing from University of California system schools.

AffordableSchools.net (http://www.affordableschools.net) is an online publisher that focuses on affordable colleges and programs within higher education. It publishes a number of rankings series, focusing on affordable Bachelor's degrees (various subjects), affordable Bachelor's degree colleges by state, affordable online degree programs, resource lists, and much more. The site is designed to make your college search easier.

Raj Kumar Dash
Managing Editor
Email: Email 
Skype phone #: 310-929-7240 (voicemail)
Contact form: http://affordableschools.net/contact/

SOURCE AffordableSchools.net

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http://www.affordableschools.net

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