Free recycled tote bags are distributed at an Earth Day event held on campus to
share information with students about what the university is doing to advance campus sustainability.
Northeastern University has received high marks for its commitment to sustainability and outstanding career services in The Princeton Review’s latest annual rankings of the 377 Best Colleges.
The rankings, based on surveys of more than 122,000 students, rated Northeastern No. 1 for “Best Career Services.” Maria Stein, the university’s director of career services, noted that Northeastern has ranked in the top four in the category each of the last five years — including three years in the top spot.
The career services office, she explained, provides students with the guidance and resources to build their careers while they are at Northeastern, in part by proactively engaging with employers to participate in workshops, seminars and career fairs throughout the year. These efforts dovetail with the university’s signature co-op program, in which students work for up to six months in full-time industry positions in their areas of interest. Northeastern students currently have the chance to participate in co-op and other experiential-learning opportunities in 91 countries across the world.
Northeastern was also named to The Princeton Review’s “Green Honor Roll,” as one of 21 institutions to earn the highest possible “Green Rating” score of 99.
The Princeton Review surveyed hundreds of higher-education institutions about their environmental friendliness, including questions on energy use, recycling, food, buildings and transportation, as well as academic offerings and action plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In earning a spot on the “Green Honor Roll,” Northeastern was credited with having reduced emissions by 33 percent since 2005 and saved nearly 11 million kilowatt-hours of electricity over the past five years.
The publication’s “Green Rating” for Northeastern also took a variety of other accomplishments into account. International Village, for example, was the first university dining facility in the country to earn LEED Gold certification and become Green Restaurant® 3-star certified. Northeastern also participates in “Hubway,” Boston’s bike-sharing program, and “Compost Here,” an aggressive food composting program that results in nearly 700 tons annually of composted dining-hall service and catered food waste.
Sustainability is one of Northeastern’s core research themes and is integrated in more than 100 academic courses and experiential-learning programs.