Joliet, Ill. – The University of St. Francis (USF) is one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review.
The education services company features USF in its website resource, The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition, released on October 25, 2022. The guide is accessible for free at www.princetonreview.com/green-guide.
The Princeton Review chose the schools in the guide based on its survey of administrators at 713 colleges during the 2021-22 academic year and surveys of students attending the colleges. The company editors analyzed more than 25 survey data points to select the 455 schools chosen for the guide.
“It is an honor for the University of St. Francis to continue to be recognized for its sustainability efforts by The Princeton Review. This recognition serves as a nice acknowledgement of our efforts to increase the campus’s sustainability projects and awareness,” said Ashley Swanson, co-chair of the USF Sustainability Committee.
Recent sustainability projects at USF include a creation of a pollinator garden, maintenance of on-campus beehives, study and restoration of the Charlotte Codo Prairie in Frankfort, composting, and the creation of community gardens.
The university’s sustainability efforts are tied to the teachings of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is remembered for his love of the environment and all living things.
“We believe that our patron Saint Francis of Assisi is the example par excellence challenging us to of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically (adapted from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Paragraph 10),” added Sr. Mary Elizabeth Imler, OSF, USF Vice President of Mission Integration.
“We strongly recommend the University of St. Francis to the increasing number of students who care about the environment and want their ‘best-fit’ college to also ideally be a green one,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief. “USF demonstrates an exemplary commitment to sustainability and to green practices—and it offers excellent academic programs.”
Franek noted that The Princeton Review has seen an increasing level of interest among students in attending green colleges. Of the more than 10,000 college applicants the company polled for its 2022 College Hopes & Worries Survey, 77% said having information about a college’s commitment to the environment would affect their decision to apply to or attend a school. A report on the survey findings is downloadable at www.princetonreview.com/college-hopes-worries.
The school profiles in The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges report on the colleges’ uses of renewable energy, their recycling and conservation programs, the availability of environmental studies in their academic offerings, and their career guidance for green jobs. The profiles also include information on the schools’ admission requirements, cost, and financial aid.
The Princeton Review has published its Guide to Green Colleges annually since 2010. The company is also known for its dozens of categories of college rankings in its book, The Best 388 Colleges, and its website resources including The Best Value Colleges.
USF was also recognized by The Princeton Review’s Best in the Midwest section of its “2022 Best Colleges: Region by Region” website. The honor marks the fourteenth consecutive year USF has been named to this national listing.
How Schools Were Chosen for the Guide
The Princeton Review chose the 455 colleges based on its 2021–22 survey of administrators at 713 colleges concerning their institutions’ sustainability-related policies, practices, and programs. The company’s editors analyzed more than 25 data points from the survey to tally Green Rating scores for the schools on a scale of 60 to 99. Colleges that earned a Green Rating score of 80 or higher were chosen for the Guide to Green Colleges. Of the 455 schools selected for the 2023 edition, 422 are in the U.S., 26 are in Canada, two are in Taiwan and one (each) is in Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, and Morocco.
Thirty-one of the 455 schools in the guide earned a Green Rating score of 99 (the highest possible score). They are listed in The Princeton Review’s Green Honor Roll (reported August 2022). The Princeton Review’s Green Rating scores of colleges appear in the profiles of the schools on PrincetonReview.com and in profiles in the company’s flagship college guide, The Best 388 Colleges: 2023 Edition (August 2022).
About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review, is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources, and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. The company’s Tutor.com brand is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 21 million one-to-one tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company’s Media Center.
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The University of St. Francis, in Joliet, Ill., serves close to 4,000 students nationwide and offers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, nursing and social work. There are over 53,000 USF alumni across the globe. For information, call 800-735-7500 or visit stfrancis.edu.
University of St. Francis: Bigger thinking. Brighter purpose.
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