When a prospective college student walks by the seemingly endless shelves of college guide books that rank universities across the nation based on tuition, housing, faculty ratios and other criteria, he may notice a shiny yellow book that offers a dimension of criteria entirely ignored until now.

A new college guide purely based on how friendly the campus is to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students has recently reached the bookstands.

And as in many ranking guides, UCLA was near the top of those listed, with only two schools receiving a higher score: The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California.

The 400-page guide, “The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students,” does not rank the schools in order, but has a “gay point average” official campus checklist. UCLA ranked among the top 20 “best of the best” in the Advocate’s guide.

The gay point average gives scores out of 20 to campuses based on their policies, programs and practices affecting LGBT people. This includes whether a school has nondiscrimination statements, if there is a central resource center, if there is a student group devoted to the population, and if there is a variety of related courses.

“I think (this ranking) speaks very much to the work that UCLA is willing to do to be open and welcoming to every student and not just some students,” said Ronni Sanlo, director of the UCLA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center.

And while the rainbow flags of the LGBT center are proudly displayed in its windows, not everything is as colorful as it may seem.

Some students say there is still more to be desired.

Along with the lack of housing options oriented toward LGBT students, Carlos Saucedo, a fourth-year political science student, said he would like to see transgender restrooms in UCLA housing.

“I was really happy, but I still know there is a lot of improvement that can be made,” he said.

Two years ago, Robert Grossfield, a UCLA student at the time, was arrested for throwing a grapefruit-sized piece of concrete that shattered a window at the LGBT center.

Some saw it as a hateful act against the LGBT community, but Sanlo said this sort of thing is rare at UCLA.

“In the 11.5 years (the LGBT resource center has existed), that was the only hate crime (and it was) perpetuated by one person. It was in-between quarters, nobody was even there. He had his own issues. I would say that sort of record is pretty amazing,” Sanlo said.

Despite this incident, UCLA fell only one point short of perfect. The campus has been recognized as an LGBT-friendly campus with a wide range of resources for those in the LGBT community.

One reason the book cites for UCLA’s high score is its proximity to West Hollywood, known for embracing the LGBT community with dominant rainbow flags in the center divider of its streets and sidewalks.

Also contributing to the high rank, according to the book, is UCLA’s diverse student body. Compared to other universities, UCLA’s large student population has fueled student programming and organizations for LGBT and ally students.

Aside from the incident two years ago, the book notes one thing UCLA lacks which brings down its score: themed housing.

But Suzanne Seplow, director of the UCLA Office of Residential Life, said to date, UCLA has never offered identity-based housing.

“I am not aware of all the history around theme housing at UCLA, but do know there was a philosophy of keeping theme housing to academic and issue-based themes versus identity-based themes,” Seplow said.

“This year, I am appointing a task group to look at our theme housing program in general and offer recommendations that may better meet the needs of out students today. The task group has not yet been constituted, but will include faculty, staff and students,” she added.

Sanlo said there is always room for improvement, but just like the book alludes to, UCLA’s welcoming atmosphere toward the LGBT community is generally in good shape.

Thanks to the resource center’s efforts since it opened in 1995, it has helped support about 12 to 15 LGBT student organizations and averages a steady 75 visits a day.

The resource center also has the largest LGBT library of any college in the nation with over 4,000 volumes, and it has the first LGBT computer center, the David Bohnett Cyber Center.

Currently, the estimated LGBT population in the country is about 10 percent, or approximately 28 million per the U.S. 2000 census.