News and Events
2010 Green Report Card Released - PSU gets a "B" grade
Penn State received a B grade in the 2010 Green Report Card compiled by the College Sustainability Report Card. Among the 332 schools evaluated this year, 8 percent of schools earned cumulative “A” level grades, 45 percent earned “B” level grades, 34 percent earned “C” level grades, and 13 percent earned “D” level grades.
Penn State scored a B grade along with other Big Ten schools Michigan State University, Ohio State University–Columbus, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The only Big Ten schools scoring higher than Penn State were the University of Minnesota with a A- grade and the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor with a B+ grade. Four other Big Ten schools recived a B- grades and one recived a C grade. See schools with grades below:
- University of Minnesota: A-
- University of Michigan–Ann Arbor: B+
- Michigan State University: B
- Ohio State University–Columbus: B
- Pennsylvania State University: B
- University of Wisconsin–Madison: B
- University of Illinois: B-
- Indiana University–Bloomington: B-
- Northwestern University: B-
- Purdue University: B-
- University of Iowa: C
The College Sustainability Report Card is the only independent evaluation of campus and endowment sustainability activities at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In contrast to the academic focus on sustainability in research and teaching, the Report Card examines colleges and universities, as institutions, through the lens of sustainability.
The Report Card is designed to identify colleges and universities that are leading by example on sustainability. The aim is to provide accessible information for schools to learn from each other’s experiences and establish more effective sustainability policies.
Just as the grading system serves as an incentive in the classroom, the Report Card’s grading system seeks to encourage sustainability as a priority in college operations and endowment investment practices by offering independent yearly assessments. The focus is on policies and practices in nine main categories:
- Administration
- Climate Change & Energy
- Food & Recycling
- Green Building
- Student Involvement
- Transportation
- Endowment Transparency
- Investment Priorities
- Shareholder Engagement