Annual Sustainability Reporting: STARS

What is a STARS Report?

The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, & Rating System (STARS) is a comprehensive and transparent reporting framework for universities to track their sustainability performance. The framework addresses environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability and encourages continual improvement across all sustainability metrics.

Why is STARS important?

The STARS System helps to measure and encourage sustainability in all educational and operational aspects of higher education. With more than 900 participants in 40 countries, AASHE’s STARS program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance.

Picture of student walking along a path during the Fall and a tree which has leaves that are a deep bright red against a clear blue sky

What are the main takeaways from WCU’s STARS Reporting Effort?

Environmental, economic, and social sustainability are core principles that the WCU community applies to our teaching, research, support services, andoperations. The STARS Rating system helps West Chester to assess, measure, and report on our efforts to achieve our sustainability commitments at a nationally recognized level.

What is our Current STARS Rating?

West Chester’s STARS Rating for the 2025 submission is ‘Silver’. Link to our 2025 submission

Silver is an excellent rating, and sits within the ranks from STARS in this order: Platinum (best), Gold, Silver, Bronze, Reporter.

Quick Facts:

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Our report from 2025 received 50.58 points total.
After this year's submission 2025, there are currently 391 Institutions that have a valid STARS rating. West Chester is 1 out of only 130 institutions nationally that have a ‘Silver’ ranking for 2025.
We were especially successful in our rankings for the following categories: 'Academics', 'Engagement', and 'Planning and Administration'.

Where did WCU Excel in its Sustainability ranking?

Academics - Curriculum

Academics is a category of STARS reporting and focuses on sustainability within West Chester as an institution, considering things like curriculum, research, and teaching practices. It considers the extent to which West Chester has integrated sustainability into its educational offerings and research endeavors.

West Chester excelled when it came to their curriculum offerings, with over 75% of departments having at least one sustainability course offering.

We excelled in the area of sustainability literacy as well, with a Sustainability Census that is completed annually by students, faculty, staff, and administrators.

Lastly, we also excelled in our academic research, with over 2/3 of academic departments actively engaging in sustainability research.