UC Santa Barbara recently joined UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and UC Riverside as top universities with welcoming environments for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, according to a national assessment tool.

The five UC campuses are among 28 U.S. universities — out of a total of 326 participating campuses — to be rated a five-star school in an ongoing assessment of LGBT-friendliness by the national nonprofit Campus Pride.

The LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index is a tool for assisting colleges in learning ways to improve their LGBT campus life and ultimately shape the educational experience to be more inclusive, welcoming and respectful.

UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Davis and UC Merced are also participating and rated highly in the the assessment.

See the full index.