Three universities from New Jersey and two from Pennsylvania, including the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, have been named to a top-30 list published annually by the nonprofit Campus Pride.
Rutgers University in New Brunswick, Princeton University and Montclair State University all earned perfect scores of 5 on the Campus Pride Index. That represents repeat top marks for all three.
Penn also received a perfect score, while Penn State received a 4.5. The two Pennsylvania schools received their same scores last year. Penn State did receive a higher evaluation than last year on LGBT institutional support, but the index still called for improvements in LGBT recruitment and retention and academic resources.
This is the eighth year Campus Pride has rated more than 235 universities on their policies and resources for LGBT students, faculty and staff.
“Prospective students and their families today expect colleges to be LGBTQ-friendly,” Shane Windemeyer, executive director of Campus Pride, said in a statement. “Now more than ever, there are colleges that are recruiting LGBTQ youth — and they are investing in a campus that is fully supportive of LGBTQ students.”
For more information and a complete list of the top-30 LGBT-friendly campuses, visit www.campusprideindex.org.