Florida Tech Named in Princeton Review Green College Guide
2018 List Highlights ‘Exceptional Commitments to Sustainability’
MELBOURNE, FLA. — The prestigious higher education publication The Princeton Review has included Florida Tech in its new “Guide to 399 Green Colleges, 2018.”
Each school on the 9th annual list, which is organized alphabetically, not by ranking, features “the most exceptional commitments to sustainability from academics and career prep to campus clubs and initiatives,” according to the publication.
Florida Tech was one of just 11 Florida schools on the list, which was released in October.
“To all students wanting to study and live at a green college, we strongly recommend the outstanding schools we identify and profile in this guide,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief.
Franek noted that college applicants and their parents are increasingly concerned about the environment and sustainability issues. Among nearly 11,000 teens and parents The Princeton Review surveyed earlier this year for its 2018 College Hopes & Worries Survey, 63 percent overall said having information about a college’s commitment to the environment would influence their decision to apply to or attend the school.
To compile the list, The Princeton Review used a rating system to measure a school’s performance “as an environmentally aware and prepared institution.” That system looked at whether students have a campus quality of life that is “both healthy and sustainable;” how well a school is preparing students for employment in the clean-energy economy “as well as for citizenship in a world now defined by environmental concerns and opportunities;” and how environmentally responsible a school’s policies are.
Florida Tech has been recognized previously for its strong sustainability practices and curriculum.
In 2017, it received certification under the prestigious Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS), one of just a handful of Florida universities and colleges to receive this award. Work on this large project included many of the same criteria for innovations measured by the Green College Guide. Prominent among these was the Florida Tech Sustainability Academic Program, which provided the largest percentage of campus certification credits for the STARS rating.
The university offers both a Bachelor of Science in Sustainability Studies and an undergraduate minor in sustainability. Over 120 graduates from the program include students with more than 25 different majors from all colleges on campus, and all of these graduates completed capstone research projects which have catalyzed diverse sustainability advances on campus and in the community. More information is at the Florida Tech sustainability website.
Also in 2017, Florida Tech opened Ethos Community Garden, an 1,800-square-foot area with nearly two dozen planting beds. It serves as a platform for sustainable education, while providing a conversation highlight for campus tours and allowing university residents the chance to become self-sufficient in food cultivation skills.
The “Guide to 399 Green Colleges, 2018” and other resources are available at www.princetonreview.com/green-guide.
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