Sierra Magazine Announces 2020 Ranking of America’s “Cool Schools”

Oakland, CA —Today, Sierra Club’s national magazine, Sierra, released its fourteenth annual “Cool Schools” ranking of North America’s greenest colleges and universities. This year, Sierra received submissions from a record-breaking 312 across the United States and Canada. 

Each of the schools ranked in the top 20 have shown their commitment to addressing climate change, protecting the environment, and encouraging environmental responsibility both through their campus operations and course curriculums. Using a customized scoring system, Sierra’s researchers ranked colleges and universities based on academic criteria, such as environmentally-focused curriculum, student engagement with environmental activism, renewable energy and waste management operations, and schools’ planning and administrative standards. 

This year, University of California, Irvine claimed the top spot after achieving second place last year— demonstrating that even the largest state school systems are not too big to focus on climate action and sustainability. Other University of California campuses made a strong showing, including Davis, Merced and Berkeley. Not to be outdone by any US institutions, Thompson Rivers University in BC, Canada and Université Laval in Quebec claimed the No.3 and No. 11 spots respectively. 

“We continue to be inspired by the creative and innovative ways that North American colleges and universities are furthering and deepening their work to address the climate crisis and create a sustainable future, even in light of the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Katie O’Reilly, Sierra magazine’s adventure and lifestyle editor. “Every year, we see increased commitments to clean energy, reducing waste, and involvement from a wider geographic range of schools—actions and policies that used to seem cutting-edge are now almost de rigeur. Students, faculty, and administrators are continuing to step up to address the climate crisis challenge. 

Sierra’s Top 20 schools of 2020 are:

1. University of California, Irvine (Irvine, California)

2. Stanford University (Stanford, California)

3. Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops, British Columbia

4. Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona)

5. University of California, Merced (San Joaquin Valley, California)

6. State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (Syracuse, New York)

7. Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colorado)

8. University of Connecticut (Storrs, Connecticut)

9. University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire)

10. Colby College (Waterville, Maine)

11. Université Laval (Quebec City, Quebec)

12. Cornell University (Ithaca, New York)

13. University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, California)

14. Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)

15. University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Amherst, Massachusetts)

16. University of Massachusetts, Lowell (Lowell, Massachusetts) 

17. Chatham University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

18. University of California, Davis (Davis, California)

19. Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, California)

20. Seattle University (Seattle, Washington) 

"Students and youth are the driving force behind the innovation and leadership needed to address the climate crisis. This year, they stepped up to the challenge of fighting climate change and demanded action in unprecedented ways. Across Canada and the United States, youth are demanding that their schools and cities do their part in holding the fossil fuel industry accountable to the harm they have caused, particularly to Black and Brown communities, and to investing in a clean energy future,” said Eddie Junsay, Youth Leadership Director of the Sierra Student Coalition. “The Sierra Student Coalition will continue to build up youth leaders to organize for climate and social justice in their communities.”

The full ranking of 312 colleges and universities, including each school’s completed questionnaire, is online at https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/coolschools/2020