Sierra Club's Cool Schools 2011

University of Washington (Seattle) is ranked No. 1 on Sierra magazine's fifth annual ranking of the nation's top "Coolest Schools" (2011), followed by Green Mountain College (Poultney) in second place nationally and University of California San Diego in third place nationally. The magazine's rankings considered an institution's efficiency, energy supply, food, academics, transportation, purchasing, waste management, administration, financial investments and other initiatives.

The University of California, San Diego jumped to third from 15th last year in the rankings offered by Sierra Magazine. The University was recognized for environmental practices, green initiatives and its caliber of sustainability-oriented education. The ranking noted the high usage of public transit and other communal transportation initiatives at UC San Diego.

Western Washington University is ranked 14th in the nation, ahead of such schools as UCLA, the University of Connecticut, Cornell University, and the University of Maryland. Western's rise into the Top 20 (from 48th last year) was fueled by a host of initiatives on campus, such as being the first university in the nation to have its students impose a green-energy fee to pay for it becoming 100 % powered by renewable energy. Western buys more renewable energy credits than any other university in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho.

Sierra magazine's top 10 schools of 2011 are:
1. University of Washington
2. Green Mountain College
3. University of California San Diego
4. Warren Wilson College
5. Stanford University
6. University of California, Irvine
7. University of California, Santa Cruz
8. University of California, Davis
9. Evergreen State College
10. Middlebury College

* Suggested Reading:

Colleges That Change Lives

Top Colleges for Quality of Life

Top Green Colleges and Universities

Author

Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen is a highly experienced lecturer and writer. He is also a Certified Microsoft Innovative Educator with many internationally recognized certifications, including an MBA and a Postgraduate Diploma from Heriot-Watt (UK's World-Class University) and a BCom degree from Adelaide (Australia's Group of Eight University). Follow him on: LinkedIn

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