UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s University Park campus recently received notice of its fifth Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), with an improved gold rating — from a score of 74.49 in 2021, to 76.41 in 2024. This latest rating places Penn State at the top of participating Big Ten institutions in sustainability performance.
“This recognition is a testament to the dedication and innovation of our students, faculty and staff as we work together to foster a more sustainable and resilient future," said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. "Together, we will continue to prioritize environmental stewardship and sustainable practices to keep Penn State at the forefront of creating positive and lasting impacts on our planet."
Lara Fowler, chief sustainability officer at Penn State and director of Penn State Sustainability (SustainPSU), also praised the University’s progress in sustainable development.
“I am particularly proud of the collaborative efforts to holistically address sustainability challenges over the long term. This rating represents significant hard work by many people across Penn State,” said Fowler. “This recognition affirms that our strategic initiatives, educational programs, and operational practices are making tangible impact. While we have accomplished a lot, there is plenty more to do. We will continue to push boundaries, engage in innovative sustainability solutions, and empower our campus community to create positive change.”
Krista Bailey, campus sustainability strategist with Penn State Sustainability, explained, “This rating provides us the opportunity to continuously assess our metrics for success by measuring and improving our sustainability performance across a variety of disciplines. By participating in the AASHE STARS assessment, we’re able to embrace new opportunities and to continuously reflect on our collective responsibility to cultivate a more sustainable, resilient campus environment for generations to come.”
This year’s score report acknowledges several highlights of the University’s progress in academics, operations, engagement, and planning and administration. The following achievements were considered in Penn State’s rating:
- Enacted a 70-MW Solar Power Purchase Agreement that provides 25% of Penn State’s system-wide electricity needs over the next 25 years. This project is tied for the largest solar project in the state of Pennsylvania and was carefully designed to be a national model in maximizing the sustainability benefits of a utility-scale solar project.
- Continued to institutionalize sustainability by expanding the number of designated sustainability champions throughout Penn State’s colleges, campuses, and support units, as well as in governance groups such as the University Faculty Senate and student government.
- Developed new sustainability-related courses across an expanded breadth of academic departments and provided new co-curricular opportunities for student engagement and learning.
- Continued to conduct innovative research in many fields relevant to sustainability, with over 70% of the University’s faculty who conduct research being involved in sustainability-related investigations, representing all 88 academic departments.
- Continued Penn State’s strong commitment to public engagement in sustainability, including community initiatives and events of the Sustainable Communities Collaborative, Student Farm, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, and a film series focusing on issues of environmental and social justice.
- Reduced Penn State’s per-capita greenhouse gas emissions for the University Park campus by over 57.5% relative to a 2005 baseline, in alignment with the president’s goal of achieving a 100% GHG emissions reduction by 2035.
In sustainability research, Penn State earned a perfect score on the STARS criteria. In academics, the University’s curriculum earned a score of 31.37 out of a possible 40 (a 2.07-point improvement from the last assessment in 2021), with perfect marks in several subcategories: Campus as a Living Laboratory, Incentives for Developing Courses, Immersive Experience, Undergraduate Program, and Graduate Program. In Academics, Penn State scored highly in the “Academic Courses” subcategory, due largely to its high number of sustainability course offerings across a variety of academic departments. This news comes as plans for a new University-wide educational approach to sustainability is under development.
STARS divides its assessment of engagement into campus and public engagement. Within campus engagement, Penn State earned high public engagement marks for how it focuses on sustainable community partnerships, public policy and intra-campus collaboration.
For example, the Sustainable Communities Collaborative, a SustainPSU program that fosters student engaged scholarship in dozens of Penn State courses, carries out many projects that advance sustainability while building relations between the campus and neighboring communities. A second example is the Local Climate Action Program, which matches students with communities to assess greenhouse gas emissions and develop climate action plans. A third example is the EnvironMentors program, a program that matches underserved high school students with underserved undergraduate students and faculty to work on research projects; the EnvironMentors won top national awards last year.
Faculty, staff, students and administrators throughout all disciplines and units across Penn State provided data to this assessment, allowing for the full scope of Penn State’s work in the sustainability sphere to be recognized, including Krista Bailey, Ilona Ballreich, Peter Buck, Eric Cagle, Kristi Cornali, Doug Crawford, Joe Cullen, Sonia Deluca Fernández, Pamela Driftmier, Meghan Hoskins, Duane Elmore, Larry Fennessey, Lara Fowler, Doug Goodstein, Andrew Gutberlet, Jenny Hamer, Yana Harris, Doug Hendershot, Derek Kalp, Sierra Keller, Chastity King, Mark Linsenbigler, Shelley McKeague, John Mondock, Ayo Oluwalana, Bob Quinn, Jack Rumery, Neil Sullivan, Scott Sylves and Rick Ward.
AASHE is the leading association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education, with over 900 member institutions, primarily in North America. Its mission is to inspire and catalyze higher education to lead the global sustainability transformation. The STARS rating system was developed by AASHE to provide a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance against their peers.
Penn State’s current STARS score is valid through Jan. 10, 2027. View the University's full STARS report here.