6 States with the Most Beautiful College Campuses

Posted By Ryan Duques

Some states are more blessed than others for beauty, at least according to Best Choice Schools, which recently ranked the top 50 most beautiful urban campuses. The rankings were published in May, 2015. Which states are blessed with urban beauty? Take a look:

 

District of Columbia
Three schools in the top 50

George Washington University (received an overall rank of #2)
American University (received an overall rank of #4)
Georgetown University ((received an overall rank of #28)

 

Tennessee
Three schools in the top 50

Rhodes College, Memphis (received an overall rank of #27)
Belmont University, Nashville (received an overall rank of #10)
Vanderbilt University, Nashville (received an overall rank of #16)

 

Texas
Four schools in the top 50

Southern Methodist University, Dallas (received an overall rank of #45)
Rice University, Houston (received an overall rank of #26)
University of Houston, Houston (received an overall rank of #44)
Baylor University, Waco (received an overall rank of #34)

 

Massachusetts
Six schools in the top 50

Boston College, Boston (received an overall rank of #22)
Northeastern University, Boston (received an overall rank of #32)
Harvard University, Cambridge (received an overall rank of #31)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (received an overall rank of #48)
Smith College, Northhampton ((received an overall rank of #12)
College of the Holy Cross, Worcester ((received an overall rank of #8)

 

New York
Six schools in the top 50

Fordham University, New York (received an overall rank of #36)
Wagner College, New York (received an overall rank of #39)
Columbia University, New York (received an overall rank of #41)
Brooklyn College, New York (received an overall rank of #46)
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie (received an overall rank of #7)
Union College, Schenectady (received an overall rank of #37)

 

With 20% of the nation’s most beautiful urban college campuses, California leads the pack with 10 of the top 50 colleges.

 

California

Scripps College, Los Angeles (received an overall rank of #13)
Occidential College, Los Angeles (received an overall rank of #18)
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles (received an overall rank of #23)
University of Southern California, Los Angeles (received an overall rank of #25)
Stanford University, Palo Alto (received an overall rank of #3)
University of San Diego, San Diego (received an overall rank of #1)
Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego (received an overall rank of #17)
University of California – San Diego, San Diego (received an overall rank of #50)
Santa Clara University, Santa Clara (received an overall rank of #14)
University of the Pacific, Stockton (received an overall rank of #49)

 

Photo Credit: University of California San Diego website 

 

According to Best Choice Schools they evaluated the following criteria when selecting these schools:

• Location: Each campus on this list is located in a city with a population of more than 100,000 people.
• Awards & Recognition (2 points for an international accolade; 1 point for an American accolade; 1 point for appearing on the National Register of Historic Places): Whether a national award or an honor bestowed by a group or organization, any recognition a campus has received played a large part in its placement on this list. Generally speaking, the larger and more recent the honor, the higher the college was placed.
• Student Enjoyment (1 point per notable feature): While most of the on-campus features described in this article can be appreciated visually by both students and visitors, those campuses with features that can be physically enjoyed by the school’s student body (such as botanical gardens) were given higher priority.
• Number of Notable Features (1 point per feature): Campuses with more than one significant or celebrated building or feature were ranked higher than those with a single notable feature.
• Other (1 point each): Those campuses with other notable characteristics such as historical significance or environment friendliness, were also considered.

For the full list of rankings and additional information visit: http://www.bestchoiceschools.com/50-most-beautiful-urban-college-campuses/