Best College Reviews Publishes Ranking of the Best Outdoor Schools in America for 2014

News provided by

Oct 20, 2014, 08:40 ET

GRANDVILLE, Mich., Oct. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Best College Reviews, an independent college search and rankings website, has published a ranking of 35 Best Outdoor Schools in America (http://www.bestcollegereviews.org/features/best-outdoor-schools/).

Stanford University leads the ranking, which is based on information from interviews with school officials, publicized data on outdoor clubs, geographic data on state and national parks, as well as weather data. Colorado State University (Fort Collins) and the University of Colorado (Boulder) came in second and third place, respectively.

Other college towns included in the ranking are as follows (in alphabetical order):

- Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia

- Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine

- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, California

- College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

- Davidson College, Davidson, NC

- Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA

- Green Mountain College, Poultney, VA

- Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA

- Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR

- Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT

- Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

- Sewanee: the University of the South, Sewanee, TN

- UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

- UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

- UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

- University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK

- University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

- University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR

- University of Georgia, Athens, GA

- University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu, HI

- University of Idaho, Moscow, ID

- University of Iowa, Iowa CIty, IA

- University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL

- University of Nevada, Reno, NV

- University of Vermont, Burlington, VT

- University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

- University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY

- Warren Wilson College, Buncombe County, NC

- Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

- Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

According to Merrill Cook, lead editor for the piece, "many of our top schools use nature as a great segue into and complement to higher education. The presence of high quality outdoor experiences--through land universities own, nearby parks, clubs, or university programs--can often be one of the strongest correlates to student well-being, both physically, and mentally." We hope this ranking provides a valuable guide for students, professors, or those looking to take advantage of university offerings for whom quality outdoor space and programming is a high priority.

Best College Reviews (http://www.bestcollegereviews.org) is a private online web publication dedicated to providing superior college rankings and reviews. Given that a college education is one of the biggest investments a person can make in his or her lifetime, it is important that the information available to students be as useful and unbiased as possible. Best College Reviews strives to provide this service by consistently publishing rankings that matter.

Merrill Cook

Lead Editor

http://www.bestcollegereviews.org

(616)-828-5094

http://www.bestcollegereviews.org/contact/

SOURCE Best College Reviews