Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Forbes: America's Most Beautiful College Campuses

Hardly content to let its Scott Arboretum, gracious historic architecture, meticulously tended grounds and emphasis on social responsibility stand for “beauty”, Swarthmore College continues to put its Quaker-inspired ethics into practice by undoing elements of history that aren't contributing to the betterment of humankind. A recent example? Three of its rooftops (that's over 14,300 square feet) have been converted to green roofs and a fourth, destined for the Lang Performing Arts Center, is on the drawing board.

(Photo: Phillip Stern/Swarthmore College)

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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

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America's Most B... Choosing a school shouldn’t–and rarely does–come down to what it looks like. And treating campuses like candidates in a beauty contest is about as far as you can get from academic consideration. That said, prospective students consistently cite campus aesthetics as a school-choice consideration. And schools, aware that this is the case, acknowledge that shaping enrollment demands both looks and brains. So, Forbes asked a group of university architects, campus experts and students to tell them which schools are turning their heads—and why. Keep clicking to see a brief and hardly comprehensive list of their findings—not in any particular order.

(Photo: Julia De Santis/College of the Atlantic/Dan Addison/U.Va Public Affairs/Courtesy of Lewis & Clark)

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America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
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The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Florida Southern... The geometric Annie Pfeiffer Chapel at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida is among a dozen Frank Lloyd Wright structures at this small college. Frank Lloyd Wright's stated intent was to create a collegiate architecture that would be a beacon of light. And for the efforts that have gone into the restoration of his vision, we included Southern Florida College on this list. And it doesn't hurt that this college is located in a town between Orlando and Tampa named for its 38 lakes.

(Photo: Courtesy of Florida Southern)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
College of the A... A steadfast and longstanding commitment to the environment makes the College of the Atlantic beautiful in more than one way. Maine's dramatic coast demarks the acreage here which includes a farmland, forest and orchards. The earth-friendly school takes its commitment to the planet seriously. All the paper used at this college is 100% recycled. Even the paint on the residence walls is low-VOC.

(Photo: Julia De Santis/College of the Atlantic)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Illinois Institu... From 1938 to 1958, the IIT School of Architecture was chaired by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. His extremely ambitious master plan for the campus includes 20 of his works. Unlike classical campus layouts with their quadrangles, brick or limestone buildings, and sweeping lawns, this one was designed with an emphasis on industrial materials, such as steel and glass, and inspired by the look of factories and warehouses. The American Institute of Architects has recognized the campus as one of the 200 most significant works of architecture in the United States.

(Photo: Ray Laskowitz/Lonely Planet Images/Newscom)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Furman Universit... Even if it wasn't a college, the natural beauty of the lush South Carolina landscape, Asia-inspired gardens and sparkling lake at Furman University would be deemed postcard perfect. Add to this a collection of buildings as diverse as a former Buddhist temple, now called the Place of Peace, an environmentally sustainable show home, the school's signature Bell Tower and some very fine examples of Georgian architecture and you have a beautiful spot to invest the next four years of study.

(Photo: Courtesy of Furman University)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
University of Wa... Snow-capped mountain views in an urban setting is already a sweet deal. And in Seattle, the University of Washington offers this, and more. But what's really beautiful about “U Dub”, as its called by its student body, is how respectfully it is integrated into the city at large. Far from divorced from life beyond its borders, campus outreach is huge. In spite of its high academic reputation, self-importance is considered the opposite of cool. Pretty as it is what makes it beautiful is its humility.

(Photo: Courtesy of the University of Washington)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Swarthmore Colle... Hardly content to let its Scott Arboretum, gracious historic architecture, meticulously tended grounds and emphasis on social responsibility stand for “beauty”, Swarthmore College continues to put its Quaker-inspired ethics into practice by undoing elements of history that aren't contributing to the betterment of humankind. A recent example? Three of its rooftops (that's over 14,300 square feet) have been converted to green roofs and a fourth, destined for the Lang Performing Arts Center, is on the drawing board.

(Photo: Phillip Stern/Swarthmore College)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Scripps College,... Founded in the 1920s, Scripps College, which remains a women's college, is a testament to architect Gordon Kauffman whose Mediterranean Revival style did more than design a campus. He created a world. Stucco walls, wrought-iron gates, archways, fountains, cloister garden and Mexican mural transport students to another place and time. And these buildings have only grown more enticing as the almond, orange, sycamore and liquidambar trees have matured there, a nod the choices of the great landscape architect, Edward Huntsman-Trout.

(Photo: Courtesy of Scripps College)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
University of Vi... David Neuman is the Architect for the University of Virginia, a World Heritage Site. “A beautiful campus is defined by a sense of order, though this doesn't necessarily mean right angles,” he said. “There should be a green space, an area of respite that is not immersed in the day to day. And the architecture should be compatible with both the scale of other buildings and the students whose endeavors they house.” At UVA, the Jeffersonian academical village possesses all of these aspects in the form of an orderly arrangement of brick buildings, dignified in scale and married by the surrounding lawns and gardens.

(Photo: Dan Addison/U.Va Public Affairs)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Rhodes College, ... At Rhodes College in Memphis, campus planners didn't pave paradise to put up a parking lot. They unpaved one to create an Oxbridge-style quad and new library. The school, inspired by an English Gothic village, the Rhodes College 100-acre campus in Memphis, Tennessee belies the fact that it has only been since 1925 when it was moved from Clarksville. A junior at the time, a student named John A. Rollow brought with him a collection of seedlings which he planted. This oak allee was eventually named the Rollow Avenue of Oaks and runs from the school's North Parkway to Palmer Hall.

(Photo: Courtesy of Rhodes College)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Lewis and Clark,... Lewis and Clark in Portland, Oregon has 137 acres of forested campus that is contiguous with the Tyron Creek State Natural Area, which is over 600 acres. Environmentally sustainable buildings blend with historic architecture there. But it's the natural environment--views of Mount Hood among them--that keep student cameras snapping.

(Photo: Courtesy of Lewis & Clark)

More From Forbes:
America’s Prettiest Neighborhoods
The World’s Most Beautiful National Parks
The World’s Most Beautiful Rivers

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
More From Forbes... Click here to see more of the prettiest college campuses in America.