College 3 by 5: Eco Colleges

by Emily Standish

College 3 by 5: Three Things About Five Eco Colleges

An “Eco College” is a place where students can live, learn and study within a mission of sustainability. These five colleges, and others noted below, are models of institutional commitment to practicing sustainable building practices, renewable energy, and for some, locally managed food resources. Note that each of the five colleges described below have rolling admission policies, meaning that they fill their freshman class as applications come in – and they have later application deadlines and there is still time to apply this spring, for Fall 2012 admission!

Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska www.alaskapacific.edu

• APU's “Active Learning” encourages students to be “activists and idealists”, engaged in adventure, service, and project-based learning.
• Academic programs include Business, Counseling Psychology, Earth Sciences, Environmental Policy, Outdoor Studies (includes a course in Expedition Mountaineering), among others
• By the numbers: 34% admit rate, Mid-range* SAT scores: CR* 480-590, M* 480-590,
• Mid-range ACT composite: 21-26

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine www.coa.edu

• COA was the first college in the US to reduce its green house gas emissions to zero.
• All students design their own academic program within a Human Ecology major, choosing from three resource areas and nine focus areas.
• By the numbers: 75% admit rate. This college is test-optional: test scores do not need to be submitted.

Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington www.evergreen.edu

• 100% of Evergreen's operating energy comes from renewable sources and its organic campus farm produces some of the dining service's food
• With no general education requirements, all students design each quarter's classes around a theme taught by faculty from different disciplines. Narrative evaluations are given instead of grades.
• By the numbers: 94% admit rate. Mid-range SAT scores: CR 510-640, M 460-590. ACT 21-27.

Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin www.northland.edu

• Northland is a national leader in alternative building techniques, with one of the campus residence halls built as a prototype for the LEED green building rating system. The campus has a variety of renewable energy sources and participates in the “Dark Skies” initiative.
• In addition to the liberal arts majors at Northland, majors such as Environmental Geosciences, Outdoor Education, Environmental Chemistry, Ecological Restoration, Wildlife Ecology and Management, and Engineering are also offered.
• By the numbers: 76% admit rate. Mid-range SAT Scores: CR 463-560, M 443-578; ACT 21-25

Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona www.prescott.edu

• Prescott's philosophy includes social justice, environmental awareness, sustainable communites and agriculture, outdoor leadership, and teacher preparation
• 780 undergraduates can choose experiential learning in majors such as Adventure Education, Wilderness Leadership, Sustainable Community Development, and Ecological Design in addition to more traditional liberal arts and fine arts majors.
• By the numbers: 99% admit rate; Mid-range SAT scores: CR 510-670, M 480-570; ACT 20-28

If your son/daughter loves the outdoors and/or has been an Outdoor School student leader, an Eco College may be a good fit. Here are some other choices with similar philosophies: Green Mountain College, VT; Hampshire College, NH; Marlboro College, VT; University of Montana; Montana State University; Western Washington State University;and Warren Wilson College, NC. Check out www.ecoleague.org.

*Mid-range SAT scores of the middle 50% of the 2010 entering freshman class. CR = Critical Reasoning, M = Math.