ALLENDALE, Mich. – Grand Valley State University was ranked ‘gold status’, meaning the school made the top 45 in the country by  the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, (AASHE).  The Sustainability Tracking, and Rating System program (STARS), was set up to help rank the progress of colleges and universities toward sustainability in all sectors.  GVSU joins the likes of universities such as Arizona State, Stanford and Cornell, to name a few receiving gold STARS out of the 241 schools that received a ranking nationwide, GVSU’s score was higher than the national average.

This is the second time Grand Valley has participated in the STARS program.  In 2011, the school received silver status.  The assessment included 1,000 questions and compared campus operations from 2005 to 2012 and includes four categories: education and research, operations, innovation, and planning.