Massachusetts Schools Get a C+ in Sustainability

The Sustainable Endowments Institute, which is based in Cambridge, has published its second annual College Sustainability Report Card. The Institute issues grades for schools in several green-friendly fields: Administration, Climate Change & Energy, Food & Recycling, Green Building, Transportation, Endowment Transparency, Investment Priorities, and Shareholder Engagement.

The endowment and investment fields are crucial to the report because they indicate whether or not a school is putting its money where its mouth is and investing in renewable energy funds. While schools are doing better overall with buying local food and recycling, they aren't all that forthcoming when asked what they're investing in. For example, Harvard, which is considered a "College Sustainability Leader," would have received an A, but it scored a "C" in endowment transparency.

Since college is big business in Massachusetts, these scores may reflect how the state is doing as a whole when it comes to sustainability. Plenty of local schools went under the microscope and, despite an A- from Harvard and B+ scores from MIT, Tufts, and Williams, the local colleges and universities scored a slightly above average C+.

List of all Massachusetts schools that were evaluated after the jump. Image from the Sustainable Endowments Institute Website.