Austin College Featured in The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition
Sherman, Texas — Austin College is one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review®.
The education services company features Austin College in its online resource, The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition, published October 25, 2022. The guide is accessible for free here.
The Princeton Review chose the schools in the guide based on its survey of administrators at 713 colleges during the 2021-22 academic year and surveys of students attending the colleges. The company editors analyzed more than 25 survey data points to select the 455 schools chosen for the guide.
Professor of Biology and Environmental Science Dr. Peter Schulze spoke on behalf of himself and his colleagues, acknowledging that they “are grateful for the support of all members of the Austin College campus community – students, faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees – as we work together to continue reducing the college’s environmental footprint. Our motivation is to help our society learn to live without degrading the planet’s life support potential while creating a campus ‘living lab’ in the process.”
Led by the ongoing commitment of its Center for Environmental Studies, Austin College has now been recognized by the Princeton Review as a ‘Green College’ twelve times. In 2008, Austin College signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, now known as the Carbon Commitment, through Second Nature. In 2009, the Austin College Center for Environmental Studies conducted its first greenhouse gas emissions report and has since completed reports annually. Austin College also initiated ‘Thinking Green Campus Awareness’ and the ‘Student Sustainability Fund’, yielding more than 30 student proposals for campus greening projects that have since been adopted and implemented.
In 2013, the newly built IDEA Center was named LEED Gold certified. Austin College celebrated a full conversion to wind power in 2016, enabling its admission to the Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Partnership. President Steven O’Day adopted the first Austin College Campus Sustainability Plan in 2018. Recent activities include the launch of ‘Adopt a Butterfly Bed’ and the revival of fully-funded elementary school field trips to Sneed Prairie. More than 10,000 children have participated in this established outreach program which received the 2020 Environmental Excellence Award in Education from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The Princeton Review has published its Guide to Green Colleges annually since 2010. The company is also known for its dozens of categories of college rankings in its book, The Best 388 Colleges, and its other resources for college applicants.
“We strongly recommend Austin College to the increasing number of students who care about the environment and want their ‘best-fit’ college to also ideally be a green one,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief. “Austin College demonstrates an exemplary commitment to sustainability and to green practices—and it offers excellent academic programs.”
Franek noted that The Princeton Review has seen an increasing level of interest among students in attending green colleges. Of the more than 10,000 college applicants the company polled for its 2022 College Hopes & Worries Survey, 77% said having information about a college’s commitment to the environment would affect their decision to apply to or attend a school. A report on the survey findings is downloadable here.
The school profiles in The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges report on the colleges’ uses of renewable energy, their recycling and conservation programs, the availability of environmental studies in their academic offerings, and their career guidance for green jobs. The profiles also include information on the schools’ admission requirements, cost, and financial aid.
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, 422 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).
About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review® is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students as well as working professionals achieve their education and career goals through its many education services and products. They include: online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is now in its 41st year. The company’s Tutor.com brand, now in its 22nd year, is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 23 million one-to-one tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company’s Media Center. Follow the company on Twitter (@ThePrincetonRev) and Instagram (@theprincetonreview).
About Austin College
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, global awareness, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book, Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 50 percent of students identifying as persons of color. The residential student body of approximately 1,250 students and an expert faculty of more than 100 educators allow a 12:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. Related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA), Austin College cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. The College, founded in 1849, is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under its original name and charter.