September 22, 2021

Susquehanna University has again been named in the Sierra Club’s annual ranking of Cool Schools.

Cool Schools assesses colleges’ performances in everything from what they teach to how they obtain their electricity to where their cafeteria food is sourced and how they manage their water. Susquehanna significantly improved its position on the ranking, rising from 260th to 195th on the list.

“Our improvement in the Sierra Club’s Cool Schools ranking can be attributed to our campuswide dedication to environmental stewardship,” said Kathy Straub, interim dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences. “From our academic offerings and research to facilities management and financial planning, Susquehanna continues to innovate and dedicate itself to being a responsible environmental citizen, a commitment that only deepens as we continue to see the global impacts of climate change.”

Participation in Sierra magazine’s annual Cool Schools ranking was open to all four-year undergraduate colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, as well as two-year community colleges. Scores are based on a data-sharing partnership between the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s STARS report and the Sierra Club.

STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, is a nationally recognized assessment tool for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Susquehanna improved from STARS Bronze to STARS Silver in 2020.

Sierra processed the STARS data through a custom-built formula that ranked the schools according to its own weighting criteria across 18 categories that reflect the priorities of the Sierra Club.