BOOK RANKS TOP LGBTQ-FRIENDLY COLLEGES

What makes a college LGBTQ-friendly? Ask students at Decatur’s Agnes Scott, a private liberal arts women’s college.

The small school situated near the bustling streets of downtown and Midtown Atlanta was recently named one of the country’s top 10 most LGBTQ-friendly colleges by the Princeton Review.

The company’s “Best 382 Colleges” book includes 62 different rankings, such as best quality of life, most politically active, most LGBTQ-friendly and more.

To assess the score for each ranking, Princeton Review analysts collected surveys from 137,000 students at the 382 schools.

When asked to answer how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the statement “Students treat all persons equally, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression,” the students chose from a range of answer choices (“strongly agree” “strongly disagree,” “excellent,” “poor” etc.), each of which was attached to a specific percentage score.

Based on those scores, metro Atlanta’s Agnes Scott College was named the seventh most LGBTQ-friendly college in the nation.

From the Agnes Scott College Statement on Gender Expression and Gender Identity: “We support students, including students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or questioning (LGBTQIQ ). This support takes the form of a variety of campus services designed to create a safe learning and living environment for all. We recognize and value individuals across the spectrum of gender and are proud of the trans women, trans men, and non-binary individuals who have been admitted and/or graduated from Agnes Scott. We embrace our identity as a women’s college and as a community committed to inclusive excellence in our mission.”

Here are the top 10 LGBTQ-friendly colleges in America, according to the Princeton Review’s “Best 382 Colleges”:

Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania)

College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Maine)

Emerson College (Boston, Massachusetts)

Warren Wilson College (Asheville, North Carolina)

Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, Massachusetts)

Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, New York)

Agnes Scott College (Decatur)

Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, New York)

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (Needham, Massachusetts)

Grinnell College (Grinnell, Iowa)

AJC FILE PHOTO Agnes Scott College was named the seventh-most LGBTQ-friendly college in the nation by the Princeton Review.