Ithaca College has been named one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the nation. The Princeton Review included IC in the just-released 2018 edition of its “Guide to 399 Green Colleges.”
The Princeton Review gave Ithaca College a “green rating” of 89 out of 99. The college was cited for its development of curriculum to infuse considerations of sustainability and applied research opportunities to study and solve sustainability challenges; incorporation of sustainable decision making in campus operations; and efforts to share its experiences as a learning organization seeking to become more sustainable.
“We strongly recommend Ithaca College and the other fine colleges in this guide to the many environmentally minded students who seek to study and live at green colleges,” said The Princeton Review's Robert Franek, editor in chief.
In recent years, Ithaca College has made substantial progress towards its goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, cutting its carbon footprint by 45 percent. In February, the college began purchasing all of its electricity from Green-e certified national wind farms. The college had been receiving the equivalent of 10 percent of its annual electricity from a solar array, and that electricity is now used to offset other emissions.
In February 2018, a review team from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education commended the college for its approach to sustainability.
In 2011, Ithaca College became just the second academic institution in the world to have two newly constructed buildings earn a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council when the Peggy Ryan Williams Center joined the Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise in achieving that designation. The Athletics & Events Center and Classroom Link corridor have both earned LEED Gold.
The college is a charter member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and Second Nature.