If you’re preparing to send a high school student off to college and want to learn more about the prospective university’s sustainability record then Princeton Review’s 2011 Guide to 311 Green Colleges is for you. The Princeton Review and the U.S. Green Building Council joined forces on this year’s edition, which is available as a free download from the Princeton Review website.

 

The guide includes 308 colleges or universities in the United States and three institutions in Canada. Each of these schools received a score of 80 or higher in the 2010 Princeton Review Green Rating survey.

 

Although the guide does not list each school’s score, it includes a wide variety of sustainability-related information. The Green Facts section for each school includes the percent of the food budget spent on local and/or organic food, the waste diversion rate, availability of environmental studies degrees, the use of green certified cleaning products, whether school grounds are maintained organically and much more.

 

For example, Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., spends 30 percent of its food budget on local and/or organic food, diverts 10 percent of its waste from area landfills, offers an environmental studies degree program, uses only green-certified cleaning products and 100 percent of the school’s grounds are maintained organically.

 

American University in Washington, D.C., features LEED-certified buildings, is a Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System (STARS) charter participant and is an ACUPCC signatory. The school spends 36 percent of its food budget on local and organic products, diverts 66 percent of its waste and sources 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources.

 

The guide also lists schools with LEED-certified buildings, those that are rated by STARS and American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) signatory schools.

 

Download the four-part PDF guide here: The Princeton Review’s Guide to 311 Green Colleges Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.