PHOENIX — Arizona State University announced Wednesday it has been named the most sustainable university in the United States, ranking fifth worldwide.

ASU’s ranking is in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that were established by world leaders in 2015, according to the university’s website.

The annually published findings are based on 17 different categories of sustainability including measures of poverty, health and well-being, quality of education, gender equality and affordable, clean energy.

ASU scored 96.3 out of 100 possible points in this year’s rankings — 8.6 points higher than in 2019 when it ranked 35th worldwide. 

“This is more than a target to motivate behavior, this is a commitment Arizona State University has made to demonstrate that sustainability is achievable.” said ASU President Michael Crow.

“As an emerging service university, we are designed to be adaptive, nimble and skilled in leveraging ideas and technology to create impactful solutions to complex global challenges, and take responsibility for continuing to move this pioneering work further every day.”

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Penn State were the only other U.S. universities to place in the top 100.

A total of 766 institutions were included in this year’s rankings.

By Michael Lucie of KTAR News | April 23, 2020 at 4:45 am UPDATED: April 23, 2020 at 7:27 pm