Searching for a truly green or socially responsible college? Thinking about what's best for your student?

Thinking about what is the best education for our future?

If the truth be told, higher education in the U.S. is a major contributing factor to much of the environmental degradation, injustice and social dilemmas being experienced throughout the world today. It is so-called “highly educated" people wreaking havoc in our communities and across the planet; "educated" people who build polluting chemical plants and create genetically engineered food; "educated" people who are responsible for destruction of our forests; "educated" people who are destroying our economy, who make the policies that hurt the poor, children, women and indigenous people, and in fact, that ultimately hurt most of us.

Those are "educated" people destroying our health care system whether in exchange for lining their own pockets, or due to shortsightedness or an inability to think critically... and mostly Ivy League graduates who were filling the Wall Street firms that helps ruin the economy and now, even middle class Americans. Those are highly "educated" people in the World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund who are funneling ever increasing amounts of money to wealthy elites, while destroying the environment and lives of poor and native peoples worldwide with "structural adjustment" policies in the guise of helping them.

So, if your student wants to make a better world, they don't want a "business as usual" education: they want a green or socially responsible college that shares their values, and gives the knowledge and tools to make a difference as well as a decent living. S/he wants an engaging education based on interconnectedness, compassion and vision. A relevant, practical and often innovative education based on critical thinking that will lead to meaningful work; an education where s/he is treated as a thoughtful human, not just another number or a cog in service of mindless globalization and greed. And be clear, while it is profoundly good that more and more colleges are working towards “sustainability”, it is still often limited to money-saving areas of energy usage, transportation, and building design. A top rating for sustainability may have little to do with the education offered, the campus ethos, the interests and goals of the students or the college’s mission. In fact, many colleges other guides call "green" have, over the last five years, eliminated their environmental studies majors!

Where can such truly green colleges be found? You'll find America's greenest, most idealistic and relevant colleges, and even travel programs in the pages of Making A Difference Colleges, the only guide wholly dedicated since 1992 to distinctive green, peace and social change oriented colleges.

As parents, you'll find plenty to chew on in the Guide as well, with it's thought provoking essays from seminal thinkers such as Matthew Fox, Jeremy Rifkin and David Orr. You'll see why teens pass this book from hand to hand. We invite you to explore.