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Sierra magazine
Cool Schools: The Third Annual List

Only on the web! Get the complete college rankings for the third annual Cool Schools list, then listen to Avital Binshtock, Sierra magazine's lifestyle editor, on Sierra Club Radio discussing how and why we ranked the schools.

Rank School Efficiency Energy Food Academics Purchasing Transportation Waste Administration Bonus Score Final Grade
1 University of Colorado, Boulder 9 3 7 8 8 10 10 9 5 69 A+
2 University of Washington, Seattle 8 9 7 8 8 8 8 10 2 68 A+
3 Middlebury College 9 6 7 8 8 8 7 10 5 68 A+
4 University of Vermont 9 7 7 8 8 9 7 8 4 67 A+
5 College of the Atlantic 8 10 7 8 9 5 9 8 3 67 A+
6 Evergreen State College 9 7 7 6 9 7 7.5 10 4 66.5 A+
7 University of California, Santa Cruz 7 5 8 8 9 10 6 8 5 66 A
8 University of California, Berkeley 9 4 9 8 7 9 8 7 5 66 A
9 University of California, Los Angeles 8 3 5 8 9 9 10 9 5 66 A
10 Oberlin College 9 6 7 6 9 6 10 9 3 65 A
11 Harvard University 10 4 7 8 6 8 9 9 4 65 A
12 University of New Hampshire 7 8 6 8 8 8 7 8 5 65 A
13 Arizona State University, Tempe 10 3 7 8 10 6 8 8 4 64 A
14 Yale University 9 3 10 8 8 7 8 9 2 64 A
15 University of Florida, Gainesville 9 3 6 8 8 8 8 9 5 64 A
16 Bates College 7 10 6 7 8 7 7 8 3 63 A
17 Willamette University 9 4 8.5 7 9 8 7 6.5 4 63 A
18 Warren Wilson College 9 4.5 5.5 6 9 8.5 8 7 5 62.5 A-
19 Dickinson College 9 4 7 8 7 6 9 10 2 62 A-
20 New York University 8 5 5 7 8 8 9 9 3 62 A-
21 Georgia Tech 9 4 7 10 8 5 7.5 9 2 61.5 A-
22 Tufts University 9 5 7 8 5 8 7 9 3 61 A-
23 Duke University 10 3 7 8 9 7 7 6 4 61 A-
24 University of California, Davis 8 3 7 8 9 7 9 6 4 61 A-
25 University of Oregon 7 9 5.5 8 6 8 7 8 2 60.5 A-
26 Stanford University 8 4 9 8 5 9 8 6 3 60 A-
27 University of California, Irvine 8 3 6 8 6 10 8 7 4 60 A-
28 Bowdoin College 7 7 7 7 8 6 9 7 1 59 B+
29 Columbia University 6 2 8 10 9 8 5 7 4 59 B+
30 Johns Hopkins University 8 3 6 8 7 9 7 7 3 58 B+
31 Carnegie Mellon University 7 4 5 9 4 7 10 8 4 58 B+
32 Emory University 8 1 6.5 8 7 10 7 5 5 57.5 B+
33 University of California, San Diego 7 4 7 8 7 8 8 7 1 57 B+
34 California State University, Chico 7 3 8 8 8 6 7 8 2 57 B+
35 Green Mountain College 7 7 7 9 7 4 7 7 2 57 B+
36 St. Olaf College 9 4 8 8 7 5 5 7 4 57 B+
37 SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 7 4 5 10 6 5 7 10 3 57 B+
38 Unity College 5 10 7 9 7 2 5 7 4 56 B
39 University of California, Santa Barbara 7 3 4.5 9 8 9 7 7 1 55.5 B
40 Oregon State University 7 5 8 8 2 7 7 8 2 54 B
41 Carleton College 7 5 6 4 6 6 6 9 5 54 B
42 Colorado State University 4 4 5 8 7 7 9 6 4 54 B
43 Central Michigan University 8 4 6 6 7 5 6 6 4 52 B
44 SUNY Binghamton 7 2 4.5 8 8 7 7 8 2 53.5 B
45 University of Pennsylvania 5 4 7 7 5 7 4.5 9 5 53.5 B
46 Washington University in St. Louis 8 4 8 8 6 7 5 7 0 53 B
47 Ithaca College 9 2 7 6 7 5 7 8 2 53 B
48 Furman University 9 3 7 8 7 2 9 6 2 53 B
49 Berea College 8 3 5 5 8 6 7 6 5 53 B
50 University of Montana 5 5 6 8 6 8 6 6 2 52 B-
51 University of Idaho 5 4 6 7 6 5 8 8 3 52 B-
52 Williams College 7 5 5 7 5 5 6 9 2 51 B-
53 Haverford College 6 10 5 3 6 5 6 7 3 51 B-
54 Santa Clara University 6 7 5 7 7 4 4 8 2 50 B-
55 SUNY Albany 6 2 5 8 9 8 4 6 2 50 B-
56 Pomona College 7 4 6 7 5 55 6 5 5 50 B-
57 University of Central Florida 7 2 6 9 6 4 5 8 2 49 C+
58 Hamilton College 4 4 8 6 8 5 7 4 3 49 C+
59 College of William and Mary 8 0 6 8 4 6 6 7 3 48 C+
60 Macalester College 7 2 7 5 5 6 6 8 2 48 C+
61 Northland College 4 2 6 6 6 5 7 9 3 48 C+
62 University of Puget Sound 7 9 4 5 7 4 6 6 0 48 C+
63 Vanderbilt University 8 2 4 8 6 6 5.5 5 3 47.5 C+
64 Brown University 6 1 6 8 8 7 6 5 0 47 C+
65 Western Michigan University 8 2 5 7 6 6 5 7 1 47 C+
66 Bard College 6 2 6 6 9 4.5 7 5 1 47 C+
67 University of Maryland 6.5 2 5.5 8 3 5.5 7 5 4 46.5 C+
68 Ball State University 5 1 5 8 8 6 5 6 2 46 C
69 University of Rochester 6 4 6 6 6 4 7 4 3 46 C
70 Harvey Mudd College 6 4 6 5 7 5 5 6 2 46 C
71 Amherst College 6 3 5 5 4 7 6 7.5 2 45.5 C
72 Clemson University 7 1 6 8 3 5 5 7.5 3 45.5 C
73 Stetson University 9 1 4 9 7 3 6.5 5 1 45.5 C
74 Naropa University 5 3 5 4 5 7 8 5 2 44 C
75 Hampshire College 5 2 5 5 7 5 7 6 2 44 C
76 Prescott College 5 0 7 8 7 3 5 7 2 44 C
77 Vassar College 4 2 7 6 6 5 7 4.5 2 43.5 C
78 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 5 0 7 8 6 7 4 6 0 43 C
79 St. Lawrence University 7 3 4 4 6 7 3 8 1 43 C
80 Fairfield University 4 3 6 5 6 6 5 7 1 43 C
81 George Washington University 5 3 4 8 4 8 5 4 2 43 C
82 Drexel University 5 3 5 6 6 6.5 6 3.5 3 43 C
83 Goucher College 7 4 6 4 4 6 4 4 4 43 C
84 University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh 7 2 7 5 6 4 5 6 0 42 C-
85 Colorado College 5 3 8 4 4 3 9 5 1 42 C-
86 LA Community College District 6 3 2 2 7 6 8 6 2 42 C-
87 Miami University 5 1 7 6 9 5 5 2 2 42 C-
88 University of Cincinnati 8 0 5 8 2 6 5 6 2 42 C-
89 George Mason University 7 0 5 8 5 5 5 5 2 42 C-
90 Elon University 7 1 5 5 5 6 7 4 2 42 C-
91 Luther College 5 3 4 5 4 3 6 8 2 42 C-
92 University of Louisville 6 0 3 4 8 8 4 6 2 41 C-
93 University of Connecticut 3 3 7 7 5 5 4 6.5 0 40.5 C-
94 University of Wisconsin, Stout 5 1 2 6 8 2 6 5.5 5 40.5 C-
95 Pacific University 7 1 7 2 7 4 9 2 1 40 C-
96 Rice University 5 2 7 8 2 6 3 5 2 40 C-
97 Pace University 4 2 4 8 7 4 4 5 2 40 C-
98 Pepperdine University 5 3 5 7 2 5 9 2 2 40 C-
99 University of Nebraska, Lincoln 7 5 4 6 5 5 7 1 0 40 C-
100 Bastyr University 5 0 9 1 4 7 8 3 2 39 D+
101 Loyola University Chicago 5 1 5 8 2 8 6 2 2 39 D+
102 Sarah Lawrence College 6 3 6 4 6 3 6 3 2 39 D+
103 Syracuse University 5 1 3 5 3 8 5 8 0 38 D+
104 University of Wyoming 4 2 3 8 8 3 6 4 0 38 D+
105 Lawrence University 7 2 5 5 2 4 7 5 1 38 D+
106 Marlboro College 5 3 7 4 6 4 6 1 1 37 D+
107 University of Richmond 6 1 4 3 7 5 6 4 1 37 D+
108 University of Dayton 6 0 4 4 5 3 7 6 2 37 D+
109 Sewanee University of the South 6 1 5 7.5 1 5 2.5 6 2 36 D
110 Kalamazoo College 5 4 3 1 7 3 5 4 4 36 D
111 Tulane University 6 2 4.5 8 2 4 3 4 2 35.5 D
112 Rochester Institute of Technology 5 3 4 8 0 3 7 5 0 35 D
113 DePaul University 7 0 5 6 5 7 4 0 0 35 D
114 Chatam University 3 1 5 5 4 6 5 5 1 35 D
115 University of Georgia 3 2 5 10 0 5 5 0 4 34 D
116 Hobart and William Smith Colleges 4 3 5 3 2 5 7 5 0 33 D
117 University of Maryland, Baltimore County 3 2 6 8 2 3 3 6 0 33 D
118 Champlain College 7 5 4 0 0 5 5.5 5.5 1 33 D
119 Drew University 4 2 2 2 6 8 4 4 0 32 D-
120 University of Illinois, Chicago 3 2 2 7 2 6 5 5 0 32 D-
121 Washington and Lee University 2 2 7 2 7 3 3 5 1 32 D-
122 Lasell College 7 1 4 5 1 5 2 5 2 32 D-
123 Davidson College 4 1 5 1 3 3 5 7 3 32 D-
124 Centre College 6 1 2 4 6 3 4 5 9 31 D-
125 Baylor University 5 0 4 4 5 3 5 3 0 29 F
126 Muhlenberg College 5 0 2.5 5 5 6 4 1 0 28.5 F
127 Ohlone College 6 5 4 1 5 2 5 0 0 28 F
128 Knox College 4 0 4 4 7 1 4 2 0 26 F
129 Trinity College 0 3 6 3 0 5 5 4 0 26 F
130 Columbus State Community College 4 0 3.5 2 2 1 6 6 0 24.5 F
131 Azusa Pacific University 4 1 4 0 2 6 2 1 3 23 F
132 University of La Verne 4 0 3 2 2 2 4 2 0 19 F
133 Kansas State University 3 1 2 7 0 1 3 1 1 19 F
134 University of Missouri 5 2 4 3 1 3 0 0 0 18 F
135 Texas Tech University 2 0 4 0 0 4 1 0 0 11 F
  Averages 6.30 3.06 5.61 6.25 5.72 5.68 6.11 5.88 2.24 46.86  

* To break a tie, we considered a variety of factors, including medians, consistency across categories, and bonus scores.


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