March 2, 2007—The Sustainable Endowments Institute has released its College Sustainability Report Card, which grades 100 leading colleges by looking at both campus greening practices and endowment policies—reportedly the first time colleges have been assessed for both.
The Cambridge-based research institute announced that the report’s grade of “A-“, the highest cumulative sustainability grade, was received by Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College , and Williams College. In addition, 26 schools received an average grade of “A-” or better upon assessing only campus operations.
The College Sustainability Report Card takes into account 26 indicators, including green building initiatives, energy use, food, and endowment investment policies, and uses an A to F letter grading system to evaluate performance. The study indicates that some leading schools are taking proactive steps on both campus and endowment sustainability initiatives. Other schools are shown to have a less consistent commitment.
While the report assigns grades for each indicator, the final cumulative sustainability grade distribution is as follows: Four schools earned level “A” grades, 22 earned level “B” grades, 54 earned level “C” grades, and 20 earned level “D” grades.
The report presents information regarding sustainability practices at the 100 institutions with the largest endowments in the US and Canada , including the Ivy League and Big 10, as well as other top public and private colleges.
The complete report is available from the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
