The College Fix

State schools are apparently not the friendliest places for students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. At least those who want a good education.

The 2016 list of the “best” LGBT-friendly colleges and universities by College Choice, a ranking and review service, puts just UCLA in the top 10. The rest, from top to bottom, are

University of Pennsylvania (“one of the oldest LGBTQ centers in the country”)

Williams College (groups for LGBTQ athletes and LGBTQ mentorship)

Amherst College (a comprehensive “Queer Resource Center”)

Harvey Mudd College (another Queer Resource Center and “peer-mentoring program”)

Columbia University (“LGBTQ @ Columbia is the umbrella organization for six student organizations”)

Duke University (trains athletes to “impact social change on … LGBTQ+ inclusion”)

Bowdoin College (a queer library and “transgender student guide”)

Tufts University (a 24-year-old Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center)

Elon University (a public list of  “over 90 gender-neutral bathrooms”)

This is despite the fact that state schools are actually a narrow majority of the top 50 (three more – University of Washington, Rutgers and UC-Davis – round out the next 10).

Oddly, the gender-neutral bathrooms that set apart Elon are only mentioned in two other schools’ rankings: Ohio State (21) and the University of North Florida (45).

College Choice said in a press release that its ranking is based on “publicly available information on accreditation, Campus Pride rating, academic reputation, student satisfaction, affordability, average financial aid awarded, and return on investment.”

Campus Pride releases its own annual list of the 50 top schools in no particular order “based on the final responses to the Campus Pride Index, a national benchmarking tool which self-assesses LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices.”

Read the College Choice list and the release.

RELATED: Top-ranked university for LGBTQ students now lets them self-segregate in their own dorm

h/t Daily Emerald

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