UMBC Named Top 50 Green College by Princeton Review
UMBC was named by the Princeton Review as one of the Top 50 Green Colleges! We're proud of the hard work being done across campus to make UMBC green! Thank you to all of our campus partners for the effort they put in, this is truly a collaborative success! See excerpts below from their press release detailing the announcement.
The Princeton Review released its 13th annual Guide to Green Colleges —a resource the company has published online since 2010 for college applicants seeking schools with strong commitments to the environment in their campus policies, programs, and practices.
Accessible for free at www.princetonreview.com/green-guide, the Guide to Green Colleges, 2023 Edition profiles 455 colleges and presents a ranking list of the Top 50 Green Colleges.
The Princeton Review chose the schools for the guide and its ranking list based on data from the company’s surveys of administrators at 713 colleges during the 2021–22 academic year and surveys of students attending the colleges. More than 25 data points were analyzed in the selection of schools for the guide and ranking list. Details follow on how the schools were chosen and the ranking list was tallied.
"Since we debuted this project 13 years ago, we have seen an increasing interest among college applicants in attending colleges that are committed to the environment and to green practices” said Rob Franek, Editor in Chief of The Princeton Review. He noted that of the 10,400 college applicants participating in The Princeton Review’s 2022 College Hopes & Worries Survey, an overwhelming majority—77%—said information about a college's commitment to the environment would affect their decision to apply to or attend the school. Of that cohort, 37% said such information would contribute “strongly” or “very much” to their decision about a school.
“Over the years, we have also seen a significant growth in the number of colleges pivoting to sustainability-related policies and programs,” Franek added. “We are proud to shine a light on these schools and to continue serving as a unique resource for students who want their ‘best-fit’ college to also ideally be a green one. We highly recommend each and every one of the colleges in our guide.”
How Schools Were Chosen for the Guide
The Princeton Review chose the 455 colleges based on its 2021–22 survey of administrators at 713 colleges concerning their institutions' sustainability-related policies, practices, and programs. The company’s editors analyzed more than 25 data points from the survey to tally Green Rating scores for the schools on a scale of 60 to 99. Colleges that earned a Green Rating score of 80 or higher were chosen for the Guide to Green Colleges. Of the 455 schools selected for the 2023 edition of the guide, 421 are in the U.S., 26 are in Canada, two are in Taiwan and one (each) is in Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, and Morocco.
Thirty-one of the 455 schools in the guide earned a Green Rating score of 99 (the highest possible score). They are listed in The Princeton Review's Green Honor Roll (reported August 2022). The Princeton Review’s Green Rating scores of colleges appear in the profiles of the schools on PrincetonReview.com and in profiles in the company’s flagship college guide, The Best 388 Colleges: 2023 Edition (August 2022).
How the Guide's Top 50 Green Colleges Ranking List Was Tallied
The Princeton Review tallied the top 50 ranking list based on data from its surveys of administrators at the colleges as well as its surveys of students attending the colleges. The methodology factored in ten data points from the administrator survey and three data points from the student survey. Data from the student survey included student assessments of the influence of sustainability issues on their academic and campus experiences; administrator and student support for environmental awareness and conservation efforts; and the visibility and impact of student environmental groups on the campus. Note: The 455 schools in the guide overall are not ranked from 1 to 455, hierarchically. They are listed alphabetically.
Posted: January 11, 2024, 10:40 AM
