25 U.S. Colleges Recognized For Sustainability

Campuses from coast to coast were ranked using the National Center for Education Statistics' College Navigator database.

Best College Reviews has named the 25 best green colleges in the United States for 2018. There are many ways to describe green schools, but all share a commitment to environmental sustainability. While potentially lessening negative impact on the global environment, the sustainability programs and policies that a school adopts can greatly impact quality of life on the campus. Some schools in particular boast an impressive list of sustainable policies, student volunteer opportunities, and low-impact building practices that will appeal to environmentally-conscious students.

green school

This ranking was created using the National Center for Education Statistics’ College Navigator database. The 25 best green colleges were awarded points based on the following criteria:

  • Tuition
  • Princeton Review’s comprehensive evaluation of green schools in the U.S.
  • U.S. News and World Report’s overall rating of each school

Below are the resulting selections for the 25 best green colleges for 2018:
1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – Chapel Hill, NC
2. Iowa State University – Ames, IO
3. University of Virginia – Charlottesville, VA
4. University of Maryland, College Park – College Park, MD
5. Chatham University – Pittsburgh, PA
6. Arizona State University – Tempe, AZ
7. University of Massachusetts Amherst – Amherst, MA
8. University of Oregon – Eugene, OR
9. Warren Wilson College – Asheville, NC
10. University of California, Berkeley – Berkeley, CA
11. Portland State University – Portland, OR
12. University of Washington – Seattle, WA
13. University of California, Riverside – Riverside, CA
14. University of Connecticut – Storrs, CT
15. Goucher College – Baltimore, MD
16. University of Colorado Boulder – Boulder, CO
17. University of California, Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara, CA
18. Champlain College – Burlington, VT
19. University of Maine – Orono, ME
20. Loyola Marymount University – Los Angeles, CA
21. American University – Washington, D.C.
22. University of California, Davis – Davis, CA
23. Randolph College – Lynchburg, VA
24. Green Mountain College – Poultney, VT
25. Colorado State University – Fort Collins, CO

Best College Reviews is an online college review journal committed to providing students with trustworthy guidance when deciding where to attend college.