University of California Dominates 2015 “Cool Schools” Rankings

Since 2007 the Sierra Club has produced an annual “Cool Schools” list ranking the most environmentally responsible universities. The Cool Schools ranking is an index that provides comparative information about the most important elements of campus sustainability, and serves as a guide for prospective students who may choose their college based, in part, on the schools’ commitment to environmentalism. The Sierra Club notes that the ranking is intended to “publicly reward the institutions that work hard to protect the planet.”

The 2015 list of ranked schools was published in this month’s issue of Sierra Magazine, with the University of California system dominating the rankings. Five UC schools placed in the top 20, including UC-Irvine (#1), UC-Davis (#2), UC-San Diego (#7), UC-Berkeley (#13), and UC-Santa Barbara (#19). This is the second consecutive year UC-Irvine took the top spot on the list.

The Cool Schools ranking is open to all U.S. based four-year, degree-granting undergraduate colleges and universities. Schools are evaluated on their responses to a voluntary survey (the Campus Sustainability Data Collector), with rankings based on a scoring methodology that emphasizes the Sierra Club’s environmental priorities across 11 categories including: Energy, Water, Co-Curriculum, Investments, Food, Innovation, Academics, Purchasing, Planning, Transport, and Waste.

For more information visit the complete 2015 Cool Schools Rankings, and see past winners in the GBIG Collection of Sierra Club Cool Schools.