Three Canadian universities were among the 10 doctoral institutions that scored highest in the 2018 Sustainable Campus Index. The index, published by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, recognizes top-performing colleges and universities over all and in 17 distinct aspects of sustainability (seven of which are shown below). The association’s report on the index highlights such environmental efforts as California State University at Chico’s Resilient Cities Initiative, an applied-research think tank for cities, and the work of the Universities of New Hampshire and Virginia to develop an integrated tool that campuses can use to measure their carbon and nitrogen footprints.
Doctoral institutions
| 1. | U. of California at Irvine | 86.8 | 94.1% | 100.0% | 91.6% | 90.0% | 63.3% | 44.9% | 37.3% |
| 2. | U. of New Hampshire | 86.0 | 96.5% | 100.0% | 96.4% | 92.9% | 47.9% | 69.7% | 30.9% |
| 3. | Stanford U. | 85.7 | 86.9% | 94.4% | 97.6% | 94.3% | 47.4% | 64.7% | 47.3% |
| 4. | Colorado State U. at Fort Collins | 85.6 | 94.4% | 100.0% | 98.8% | 97.6% | 53.0% | 31.2% | 36.6% |
| 5. | U. of Connecticut | 84.4 | 89.2% | 100.0% | 98.8% | 95.6% | 45.5% | 36.4% | 70.6% |
| 6. | Laval U. (Quebec) | 82.5 | 84.3% | 100.0% | 93.7% | 80.3% | 40.6% | 38.2% | 25.0% |
| 7. | Arizona State U. | 82.1 | 83.8% | 99.6% | 98.8% | 94.2% | 43.6% | 62.6% | 34.9% |
| 8. | U. of Washington | 77.4 | 77.0% | 79.7% | 100.0% | 71.1% | 46.8% | 4.0% | 70.3% |
| 9. | U. of Victoria (British Columbia) | 76.8 | 75.0% | 88.6% | 94.1% | 65.5% | 38.8% | 33.8% | 56.5% |
| 10. | U. of Calgary (Alberta) | 76.2 | 74.1% | 100.0% | 96.4% | 82.0% | 56.3% | 34.1% | 36.4% |
| | Average score for 143 participating doctoral institutions | 61.0 | 60.8% | 76.9% | 73.3% | 68.0% | 35.3% | 31.1% | 28.4% |
Master’s institutions
| 1. | Green Mountain College | 81.8 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 90.9% | 87.7% | 6.1% | 70.3% | 32.8% |
| 2. | Appalachian State U. | 77.2 | 95.6% | 88.9% | 100.0% | 76.2% | 59.4% | 30.5% | 22.0% |
| 3. | Santa Clara U. | 76.2 | 88.3% | 94.4% | 92.9% | 85.0% | 30.1% | 55.2% | 37.6% |
| 4. | Chatham U. | 75.8 | 84.2% | 88.9% | 96.3% | 86.1% | 36.0% | 41.4% | 51.3% |
| 5. | Seattle U. | 75.6 | 97.2% | 79.6% | 71.0% | 93.8% | 56.3% | 36.7% | 25.0% |
| 6. | U. of Colorado at Colorado Springs | 74.3 | 80.1% | 88.5% | 66.4% | 84.4% | 56.3% | 66.4% | 29.1% |
| 7. | Loyola Marymount U. | 73.5 | 68.1% | 67.0% | 95.2% | 78.7% | 56.3% | 49.4% | 29.0% |
| 8. | California State U. at Chico | 73.4 | 90.7% | 71.9% | 77.1% | 72.6% | 34.9% | 31.6% | 50.3% |
| 9. | Bentley U. | 72.6 | 75.8% | 88.6% | 89.7% | 75.9% | 12.5% | 50.3% | 14.3% |
| 10. | California State U. at Sacramento | 72.2 | 79.2% | 88.9% | 100.0% | 68.7% | 59.4% | 21.5% | 16.9% |
| | Average score for 80 participating master’s institutions | 55.3 | 58.8% | 63.0% | 69.7% | 56.8% | 34.2% | 30.9% | 26.3% |
Baccalaureate institutions
| 1. | Dickinson College | 81.4 | 94.1% | 100.0% | 98.8% | 89.3% | 48.1% | 56.6% | 31.4% |
| 2. | Sterling College | 78.3 | 94.6% | 93.8% | 92.9% | 89.8% | 10.8% | 62.9% | 87.3% |
| 3. | Middlebury College | 77.6 | 74.5% | 93.8% | 75.0% | 84.7% | 35.1% | 41.7% | 29.7% |
| 4. | Oberlin College | 73.1 | 65.9% | 66.9% | 85.0% | 85.0% | 55.4% | 54.5% | 51.9% |
| 5. | U. of Minnesota at Morris | 73.0 | 83.2% | 94.7% | 91.7% | 78.9% | 56.3% | 38.7% | 20.4% |
| 6. | Colgate U. | 72.2 | 75.4% | 77.8% | 80.1% | 83.1% | 42.9% | 46.4% | 52.0% |
| 7. | Furman U. | 71.7 | 89.1% | 100.0% | 86.3% | 78.8% | 28.1% | 59.0% | 42.8% |
| 8. | Northland College | 68.6 | 99.7% | 83.3% | 78.6% | 71.0% | 11.3% | 55.2% | 55.5% |
| 9. | Lewis & Clark College | 68.6 | 62.6% | 62.1% | 56.6% | 88.3% | 43.5% | 60.5% | 43.5% |
| 10. | Unity College | 68.5 | 92.5% | 87.3% | 93.4% | 72.3% | 0.0% | 52.9% | 33.0% |
| | Average score for 81 participating baccalaureate institutions | 55.4 | 58.0% | 67.8% | 65.8% | 62.8% | 26.2% | 38.4% | 29.9% |
Associate institutions
| 1. | Nova Scotia Community College | 73.2 | 79.3% | 75.0% | 86.6% | 76.2% | 62.3% | 39.5% | 15.6% |
| 2. | Portland Community College (Ore.) | 62.0 | 56.1% | — | 91.7% | 43.4% | 55.3% | 57.2% | 25.0% |
| 3. | Mohawk College (Ontario) | 57.6 | 57.9% | 93.8% | 75.0% | 40.9% | 43.5% | 26.1% | 14.3% |
| 4. | Fleming College (Ontario) | 56.2 | 77.0% | — | 57.1% | 72.2% | 6.3% | 33.7% | 27.3% |
| 5. | Delta College (Mich.) | 54.9 | 37.3% | — | 78.6% | 60.7% | 40.0% | 32.1% | 20.6% |
| 6. | Central Carolina Community College (N.C.) | 54.1 | 62.7% | — | 47.2% | 58.3% | 38.8% | 26.9% | 60.0% |
| 7. | Raritan Valley Community College (N.J.) | 52.4 | 44.0% | — | 64.4% | 50.6% | 26.3% | 34.0% | 23.3% |
| 8. | College of Lake County (Ill.) | 52.2 | 69.4% | — | 63.6% | 61.6% | 38.5% | 30.8% | 25.0% |
| 9. | Western Technical College (Wis.) | 52.1 | 49.8% | — | 47.3% | 58.4% | 52.5% | 52.1% | 20.6% |
| 10. | Niagara College Canada (Ontario) | 50.5 | 59.1% | 71.8% | 85.0% | 40.9% | 0.0% | 8.5% | 0.0% |
| | Average score for 24 participating associate institutions | 47.1 | 50.8% | 63.8% | 54.2% | 47.9% | 29.8% | 28.1% | 18.8% |
| | Average scores for 294 U.S. institutions | 57.0 | 58.7% | 69.4% | 69.1% | 62.9% | 32.5% | 33.1% | 27.5% |
Note: Institutions’ performance was measured by the association’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, known as Stars. The 328 colleges and universities considered for the rankings submitted a valid Stars Version 2.1 or 2.0 report between March 2, 2015, and March 30, 2018. Only the most-recent reports were considered for institutions that submitted multiple reports during that period. Of the 328 institutions, 294 were in the United States, 30 in Canada, and four in other countries. Institutions’ overall score is a number out of 100. The percentages for subcategories are based on the number of points earned versus the number available in that subcategory. Scores were rounded, but institutions were ranked before rounding. Not all 294 U.S. institutions were measured in each subcategory; colleges without dining facilities, for instance, could opt out of “food and dining.” A dash indicates that an institution was not measured in a particular subcategory. A full report on the rankings can be viewed here. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data