Brevard Sun

Florida Institute of Technology issued the following announcement.

Florida Tech has been named to The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges 2021 Edition, a distinction granted to an elite group of universities that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and the environment from the campus to the community.

The rankings are listed alphabetically and include 416 colleges and universities among nearly 700 surveyed by The Princeton Review, whose editors analyzed more than 25 survey data points in the process of choosing schools for the guide.

“We achieved important credits through interdisciplinary undergraduate coursework and senior research projects,” said Ken Lindeman, professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences and manager of the university’s Sustainability Program. “We also qualified for our first-ever green dining credits based on the work of a team of senior research students with university dining staff.”  

The Sustainability Program is entering its 11th year and includes a STEM-based Bachelor of Science in Sustainability and a minor program that has graduated students across all colleges. Both majors and minors require year-long senior research projects that often place students into valuable internships with local government, non-profits and businesses.  

Additionally, Florida Tech received positive marks for a host of sustainability criteria, including employing a sustainability officer, offering bicycle sharing, and providing a free campus shuttle. The school also spends 38 percent of its food budget on local and/or organic products.

“We strongly recommend Florida Tech to students who want to study and live at a green college,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief. “Each and every one of the outstanding colleges in this edition of our guide offers both excellent academics and exemplary evidence of environmental commitment.”

Interest in their potential school’s sustainability practices is rising among college applicants and their parents, the Princeton Review found in its 2020 College Hopes & Worries Survey: 66 percent of the 12,845 respondents said having information about a college’s commitment to the environment would affect their decision to apply to or attend a school.

The Princeton Review has published its annual Guide to Green Colleges since 2010.

Original source can be found here.