Campus Life

Penn State included among 'Top 30 LGBTQ-Friendly Schools' by Campus Pride

The staff of Penn State's LGBTQA Student Resource Center with the Nittany Lion. Credit: Allison Subasic. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ­– Penn State is named among the top 30 schools in the nation in the 2016 Campus Pride Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning-Friendly Campus Climate Index.

The University once again received 4.5 out of five stars for overall campus climate by Campus Pride, a national nonprofit organization for student leaders and campus groups working to improve LGBTQ environments at colleges and universities.

“We’re excited to again receive this independent confirmation of the quality of our programming,” said Allison Subasic, director of Penn State's LGBTQA Student Resource Center. “Our center staff and interns work hard to offer programming for students, and educational programs for staff and faculty. Our students have so many ways to find community and be social.

“Penn State has some of the best policies and procedures nationally, and we also provide an active and fun space for our students. We offer a plethora of student groups, a gender and sexuality minor, internship programs, Ally House in residence life, and much, much more.”

The Campus Pride Index is a national benchmarking tool for colleges and universities which self-assesses LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs and practices, conducted by and for LGBTQ experts in the field of higher education. The index, now in its eighth year, includes more than 235 colleges and universities with searchable profiles online. Each campus can update their index annually and use the benchmarking tool to make improvements.

The index tool includes 50+ self-assessment questions, which correspond to eight different LGBTQ-friendly factors: policy inclusion; support and institutional commitment; academic life; student life; housing; campus safety; counseling and health; and recruitment and retention efforts. Each school listed receives an overall LGBTQ-friendly score based on a five-star model, as well as breakdowns based on sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and the eight LGBTQ-friendly factors.

In order to be in the Top 30 listing, an institution had to score the highest percentages in the benchmarks.

View Penn State’s current Campus Pride Index report card here.

Last Updated November 5, 2020

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