The annual rankings released during Pride Month combine BestColleges criteria with the Campus Pride Index score, a comprehensive national rating system that measures LGBTQ-friendly campus life.
BestColleges in partnership with national advocacy group Campus Pride has named Elon University the Most LGBTQ-Friendly College in North Carolina, a ranking that comes during the annual celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month.
The recognition follows Elon being named a top-30 LGBTQ-friendly campus by Campus Pride for the fourth consecutive year in 2018 for policies, programs and practices that are friendly to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. For its rankings, BestColleges builds upon the Campus Pride Index score by also factoring in criteria such as academic support and affordability.
“We are incredibly excited to once again work with Campus Pride to bring prospective students this inclusive ranking and guide," said Stephanie Snider, director of BestColleges. "By combining our data, we were able to build a list that truly reflects the best education options for LGBTQ students nationwide.”
For its index that is released annually in the fall, Campus Pride considers eight LGBTQ-inclusive factors to reach a measurement. The listing also includes descriptions of unique campus resources that provide support to students of various gender and sexual identities.
In its overview of Elon, BestColleges notes the following:
"The school participates in LGBTQ+ admission fairs, offers LGBTQ+ student scholarships, and hosts an annual Lavender Graduation and awards dinner to recognize LGBTQ+ graduates. The gender and LGBTQ+ center at Elon offers resources and services to the LGBTQ+ community, connecting students with on- and off-campus counseling resources to discuss issues around identity development, sexuality, coming out, and gender transitions."
"Campus Pride is proud to have helped hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ youth since 2007 find the best LGBTQ-friendly campuses," said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. "Today we continue our partnership with BestColleges to provide these rankings for LGBTQ Pride Month. There is so much work to be done still within higher education, but this list shows we are indeed making positive progress."
Earlier this year, Elon was ranked among the most LGBTQ-friendly schools by College Consensus, which combines a variety of college rankings with real student interviews from around the web.