A nationally-recognized organization dedicated to making colleges and universities safer and more comfortable for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals known as Campus Pride released its annual list of the “Top 25 LGBT friendly colleges and universities”.

The University of Washington with a student body of 43,000 came in at number 24 with Washington State University right behind it at number 25.

The listing and rankings are determined by information gathered from the Campus Pride Index. Each campus had to have 4.5 stars or above in all LGBT-friendly factors. The factors they take into consideration are:

1. LGBT Policy Inclusion
2. LGBT Support & Institutional Commitment
3. LGBT Academic Life
4. LGBT Student Life
5. LGBT Housing
6. LGBT Campus Safety
7. LGBT Counseling & Health
8. LGBT Recruitment and Retention Efforts

Any college or university is welcomed to participate in the index by self-assessing their campus and answering 50 questions free of charge. These 50 questions all relate to the eight factors listed above.

Campus Pride has encouraged colleges and universities to make policy changes to support LGBT individuals.