Celebrate Earth Day with Princeton Review's FREE Guide to Green Colleges

American University

Just in time for Earth Day, the Princeton Review has released the third annual edition of its unique FREE downloadable guidebook profiling the nation’s most environmentally responsible “green colleges.”

“The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges” reports on 320 US institutions and two in Canada demonstrating “strong commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.”

Developed in collaboration with the Center for Green Schools at the US Green Building Council (USGBC), the 232-page book can be downloaded free of charge from either the Princeton Review or Center for Green Schools websites.

Although colleges are listed alphabetically and not by rank, the Princeton Review salutes 16 schools with Green Ratings of 99 on its “Green Honor Roll.” Of the 24 local colleges and universities presented in the guide, only American University and Virginia Tech earned this distinction.

In addition to detailed descriptions of environmental and sustainability initiatives, the guide provides statistics and facts on each school’s use of renewable energy sources, recycling and conservation programs, and the availability of environmental studies programs. For the uninitiated, a glossary of more than forty “green” terms and acronyms is also provided.

“College-bound students are increasingly interested in sustainability issues,” commented Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s senior vice president for publishing. “Among 7,445 college applicants who participated in our spring 2012 ‘College Hopes & Worries Survey,’ nearly 7 out of 10 (68 percent) told us that having information about a school’s commitment to the environment would influence their decision to apply to or attend the school.”

The Princeton Review chose the 322 schools based on a survey of hundreds of colleges that asked about institutional sustainability-related policies, practices, and programs. Green Ratings were tallied for 768 institutions and all those receiving a score of 83 or above were included in the guide.

For more information or to download a copy of the “Guide to 322 Green Colleges,” visit the Princeton Review website.