As environmental concerns play an increasingly important role in politics and the corporate sector, it is fitting that The Princeton Review, a leading national education service, has just added an environmental category to its college rankings.

This year, the UW not only made the cut, but will also receive an award today at the Princeton Review Press Conference of the Naional Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) National Conference in Seattle.

Shoshana Godwin, a recent high school graduate from Seattle, said she took environmental issues into concern when applying for college.

“I wouldn’t want to go to school somewhere where I couldn’t take good environment classes if I wanted to,” said Godwin.

Traditionally, The Princeton Review has ranked and researched U.S. colleges based on such qualities as academics, political activism, partying, demographics and general quality of life. They added the Green Rating in response to a rising number of students expressing concerns about the environment.

“Seattle is a very environmentally conscious city, so it’s important that its schools are conscious as well,” said a UW junior Kailena Grosse. “I spent the last summer in San Diego, where everyone was using styrofoam cups and other harmful materials, so it made me realize how much more green Seattle is than a lot of other cities.”

Grosse has also taken forestry classes at the UW and feels that they were very informative.

While introducing the launch of its new research-based SAT course, The Princeton Review will recognize the UW for ranking among the top 11 schools in its new “Green Rating Honor Roll” category for outstanding environmental programs. Members of the NACAC will study this information and relay it to students at their respective high schools.

The Green Rating scores took into account 534 colleges using institutional data to gauge the schools’ environmental courses, policies and programs during the most recent school year. The scores will appear in The Princeton Review’s newly published guidebooks “Best 368 Colleges,” “Best Northeastern Colleges” and “Complete Book of Colleges.”

At the convention, Princeton Review Vice President and author of “Best 368 Colleges,” Robert Franek, will open by announcing the new SAT course and presenting awards to the 11 colleges named for the “Green Rating Honor Roll,” as well as describing the programs at each of these schools. There will be remarks from honored guests such as President Mark Emmert.

In total, six public and five private schools received the “Green Rating Honor Roll” this year. Those schools are Arizona State University, Bates College, Binghamton University, College of the Atlantic, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard College, University of New Hampshire, University of Oregon and Yale University.

The National Conference of the NACAC will be held at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in room 305.

Reach reporter Annie Atherton at news@dailyuw.com.