Campus sustainability initiatives earn Radford University a STARS silver rating
by Chad Osborne
May 28, 2025
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has commended Radford University for completing the organization’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) rating system.
STARS is a comprehensive sustainability system for colleges and universities that addresses the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. It serves as a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.
Radford achieved a silver STARS rating. The university’s reporting and scores can be viewed online at AASHE.org.
Radford made an 11% improvement since its last reporting, and the university will be featured in AASHE's Sustainability Campus Index (SCI), an annual publication that recognizes top STARS performers.
The STARS system provides a framework for understanding sustainability in all sectors of higher education, enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements, facilitates information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and performance and builds a stronger, more diverse campus sustainability community, AASHE said.
Radford University maintains a commitment to integrating sustainable practices into every area of operation and engaging its students across the curriculum to learn, discover and contribute to positive environmental solutions.
The STARS program has more than 1,200 participants in 52 countries and is a widely recognized framework for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Program participants report achievements in five overall areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration and innovation and leadership.
“STARS was developed by the campus sustainability community to provide high standards for recognizing campus sustainability efforts,” said AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “Radford University has demonstrated a substantial commitment to sustainability by achieving a STARS Silver Rating and is to be congratulated for its efforts.”