Florida Tech Included in Princeton Review Green College Guide

Highlights Schools with ‘Exceptional
Commitment’ to Sustainability     

MELBOURNE, FLA. — After reviewing more than 2,000 colleges and universities, the prestigious higher-education publication The Princeton Review has included Florida Institute of Technology in its “Guide to 375 Green Colleges, 2017.”

Each school on the list features “the most exceptional commitments to sustainability based on their academic offerings and career preparation for students, campus policies, initiatives, and activities,” according to the publication.

“We know that students are increasingly interested in this issue and we are happy to be able to help them make an informed decision,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief. “We strongly recommend the schools in this guide to environmentally-minded students who seek to study and live at green colleges.”

To compile the list, which was released this fall, 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.

This is not the first recognition for Florida Tech’s strong sustainability practices.

In May, it received certification under the prestigious Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). The certification, from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, higher education’s leading sustainability organization, requires demonstration of rigorous performance across dozens of individual areas within four categories of sustainability:  Academics, Operations, Engagement and Planning and Administration.

Florida Tech is one of just five colleges and universities among more than 150 in Florida to be STARS certified.

And in February, Florida Tech opened Ethos Community Garden, a 59-foot-by-39-foot fenced-in area that houses nearly two dozen planting beds. It is serving 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 university offers both a Bachelor of Science in Sustainability Studies and an undergraduate minor in sustainability.

The “Guide to 375 Green Colleges, 2017” and other resources are available at www.princetonreview.com/green-guide.

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