The Top 10 Pet Friendly Colleges

You grow up with, care for, and love your pet all through your life, but then you have to leave him/her behind to go to college? It seems so wrong! The good thing is that some schools are more welcoming of animal life than others. In the last couple of years, many colleges have become much more pet friendly.

With that in mind, US News and World Report debuted their list of the top ten most pet friendly schools. Check out our slide show of their list below. Then, tell us, is your school pet friendly? Let us know in the comments section.

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• MIT

  There are 4 <a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=2" target="_hplink">cat-friendly dormitories</a> at MIT. Meow!

• Stephens College

  Stephens College has a dorm known <a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=2" target="_hplink">unofficially</a> as "Pet Central" (regularly Searcy Hall). You can keep all kinds of pets there and they even have a pet day care!

• Washington and Jefferson College

  Washington and Jefferson college has a dorm <a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=2" target="_hplink">that</a>, "permits cats, dogs that weigh less than 40 pounds, small birds, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, turtles, and fish."

• University of Notre Dame

  Notre Dame allows "students to house non-carnivorous, freshwater fish in aquariums, as long as the tank does not exceed 30 gallons."

• Sweet Briar College

  You have to be part of a<a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=2" target="_hplink"> special horse riding program</a>, but you can have your horse come with you at Sweet Briar College.

• Stetson University

  There is a whole dorm at <a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=2" target="_hplink">Stetson</a> for students with pets. Allowed animals include, hamsters, small dogs and cats. There is even a dog park for dogs to find friends.

• Principia College

  Anything you can keep in an enclosed space, (cage or tank), you can keep at <a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=2" target="_hplink">Principia College</a>.

• Lehigh University

  Fish tanks are allowed in the dorms at <a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=2" target="_hplink">Lehigh</a>! In a frat or sorority? You are allowed a dog or cat.

• Eckerd College

  Dogs are a big part of campus life at Eckerd. "A couple of years ago, we had one young lady whose dog actually walked across stage with her at commencement," Eckerd's dean of admission and financial aid, John Sullivan, told <a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=1" target="_hplink">US News</a>.

• Want to know more pet friendly colleges?

  Click to <a href="http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/19/bring-your-pet-to-college?PageNr=2" target="_hplink">US News and World Report</a> to find out!

Comments

[veritas88]

08:12 PM on 07/08/2011

Some students tend to become lax on their own basic hygiene when they get to college, so I hope these aren't the same students living with pets!

[Susan Osterhout Troiano]

04:55 PM on 06/22/2011

Good idea and I bet there is some BSL in many of them.

[Samanta Black]

01:36 PM on 06/22/2011

Nice dog...

http://www.machupicchu.biz/
Sami

[RadioactiveRumination]

02:06 AM on 06/22/2011

oh my what is that adorable white bear dog?!?! I need one

[Doonbuggie41]

07:26 PM on 06/21/2011

There were only 9

[Katie Schachtsick]

01:58 AM on 06/21/2011

At Oregon State you can have fish in the dorms and you can board your horse at the horse barn...
Of course, a lot of other people have pets once they leave the dorms

[Nora Bahr]

02:13 AM on 06/12/2011

I wish I was allowed pets at school. We can keep fish in aquariums less than 12 gallons, but that's it. I miss my cat when I'm away from home.

[Comicoffee]

11:57 PM on 06/06/2011

I remember seeing an undergrad woman at Babson who carried a bunny with her inside a Louis Vuitton pet carrier. I couldn't help but be amused that she had a purse that cost more than my car, and it was totally filled with bunny poo.

[miggiepdx]

11:18 AM on 06/06/2011

Ah, great idea. Cats would have held down the rodent population in the dorms, back in the day.

[armstrong st]

07:45 AM on 06/06/2011

Do these schools allow to bring pets to classes or they are kept at a special place?

Steve from www.essaytask.com

[TicTucTo]

08:56 AM on 06/04/2011

I wasn't allowed pets when I lived on campus, so I had digital fish on Facebook instead.

[Beth Omohundro]

01:41 AM on 05/30/2011

Pets can help people de-stress and where is there the most stress? College. As long you are with like-minded and responsible fellow students, why not allow pets? I have known plenty of students who have had them in their apartments and off campus houses. There was never a problem with them or their pets. BTW, I want a stroller for my cat.

[AdamDuane]

02:57 PM on 05/28/2011

Cute puppy in the stroller for Stetson (small nitpic ... Stetson is in FL ...)

[CJAY]

07:38 AM on 05/27/2011

I love that cute white puppy" in the stroller! It looks similar to a Samoyed we had 40 years ago, but it looks more like a white or albino chow, if there's such a thing.

[Kirstizoe]

12:29 AM on 05/26/2011

Really? I went to St Norbert College in Wisconsin... we were allowed to have anything that could live in a tank under 30 gallons. Anything. I worked as an RA in the college owned houses and I had residents with piranhas. No joke. Is it so rare to allow residents to have fish?

[clutzzygrl24]

02:44 PM on 06/07/2011

I live there, De Pere is a wonderful town, I hope you enjoyed your time in our city! I don't think it's rare to have fish because i go to UW La Crosse and we can have fish. One time for a week someone was allowed to babysit their boyfriends cat, which was fun for the rest of us :)