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The ability of colleges and universities to pass along costs to students is a major reason for the general credit stability of the sector. For most private and public institutions, the biggest source of revenue is tuition, and state-sponsored college savings plans--also known as 529 plans--are helping to keep revenue streams flowing.

Today's college students are not shy about giving compliments or voicing concerns about their school's dining services. When it comes to speaking up about their culinary concerns, they are savvy customers: seeking variety, meeting dietary needs, knowing where their food comes from and how it's prepared, or just wanting a tasty and/or nutritious meal.

Three of the following examples speak of major overhauls, while one describes the importance of giving back to the community in an earth-friendly manner.

When providing sustainable options for your students, don't leave the bookstore out. The environment is currently in fashion with students, so being organic, recycled, or sustainable could give an item the edge it needs to be taken back to the dorm. A quick tour of the National Association of College Stores' CAMEX show floor in March revealed these goodies. Others are surely only an internet search away.

The last few years have seen tremendous progress towards sustainability. Whether fueled by surging energy prices or genuine interest in the environment, one cannot pick up a major consumer magazine--or a facility magazine for that matter--without seeing an article devoted to sustainability.

When you're known for being green, the number of inquiries from those looking to replicate your efforts can quickly jump to a level that's overwhelming.

Take the University of British Columbia, for instance. The institution has reached near-celebrity status in sustainability circles, thanks to a number of firsts, including:

Becoming Canada's first university to adopt a sustainable development policy (in 1997) and the first to open a campus sustainability office (a year later).

Near the breathtaking northern tip of the Appalachian Trail is one of six schools that represent a growing trend in higher education. This IHE and its peers form The Eco League--a band of colleges and universities devoted to the environment. In a region of rocky crags that ascend beyond the limit where most flora can grow, and of the sudden, freakish windstorms that seem to emanate from the mountains themselves, thoughts of nature and our fragile environment seem to come most naturally to mind.

I have loved St. Lawrence University and the Canton community from the very first time I saw it in the fall of 1960 when I visited as a prospective student. The university, located in the heart of New York state, owes its founding in 1856 to community leaders who, in collaboration with the Universalist Church, "lit a candle in the wilderness that will never be extinguished." The university and the Canton community have, as a result, an interdependent relationship that is like--but also very different from--the typical "town-gown" pairing.

The day following the Virginia Tech massacre, students in a Midwestern state university were taking a class taught by the university president. Someone looked outside and saw a student walking on campus with a rifle. The president immediately deputized volunteers from class and sent them out to warn other classrooms to go into lockdown.

As it turned out, the student was actually armed with an umbrella.