"As the leading national organization for LGBT students and campus groups, Campus Pride is pleased Newsweek relied on our expertise, resources and our nationally acclaimed online LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (http://www.CampusPrideIndex.org) for its ranking of its "Top 25 Gay Friendly Colleges for 2011," said Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride executive director/founder. "The Index is a valuable research tool for national benchmarking on LGBT policies, programs and practices. Of course, its free to everyone online -- prospective students, families as well as colleges and universities -- its even accessible for professional news sources like Newsweek."

As stated on the Newsweek's site: To compile the list of the campuses that are the most accepting and open-minded of LGBT students and supporters, we first turned to , a leading metric of how inclusive colleges campuses are of LGBT and Ally people. As well, we considered whether colleges have a LGBT campus center, and College Prowler survey data revealing how students rate the diversity and degree of acceptance for each campus.

Growing number of colleges receive Campus Pride’s five-star gay-friendliness rating, nearly doubles from last year

This Fall a growing number of American colleges and universities are taking steps to make their campuses safer and more inclusive for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, according to the new ratings from the Campus Pride’s LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index. In fact, 33 schools – nearly double the number from last year – received the highest ratings available for institutions of higher education.

The Campus Climate Index lists nearly 300 publicly available campus climate reports online at www.campusclimateindex.org. The nationally-praised Index takes an in-depth look at LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices. Colleges are rated from one to five stars, depending on their answers to a detailed, voluntary questionnaire submitted to Campus Pride, a national non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and build future LGBT and ally leaders. Launched online in Fall 2007, the Index has become a staple in student and faculty research, campus organizing efforts and benchmarking for LGBT student safety and inclusion on campus.

Unlike other national LGBT-friendliness rankings for colleges and universities, Campus Pride's Campus Climate Index takes into account answers by students, faculty and staff to highly detailed, comprehensive questions assessing LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices.

Campus Pride Climate Index ranks gay-friendliness of American colleges and universities just in time for ‘Back to School’

Nineteen schools nationwide make highest five-star rating; Other schools taking positive steps to 'come out' for their LGBT students

(Charlotte, NC) – As thousands of students return to their college or university campus and as many step onto campus as a new student for the first time this fall semester, they now have one complete and comprehensive national resource ranking for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) inclusion and friendliness.

The Campus Pride LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index lists over 230 publicly available campus climate reports online at www.campusclimateindex.org. The nationally praised Index takes an in-depth look at LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices. Colleges are ranked from one to five stars, depending on their answers to a detailed, voluntary questionnaire submitted to Campus Pride, a national non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and build future LGBT and ally leaders. In development since 2001, the Index has become a staple in student and faculty research, campus organizing efforts and benchmarking for LGBT student safety and inclusion on campus.

Each summer, university officials are encouraged to fill out new questionnaires and update their Index profiles. This year, the Campus Climate Index is proud to announce five-star rankings for 19 colleges and universities – the most ever achieving the Index’s highest ranking since the its inception in 2007-08.