College of the Ozarks was ranked No. 1 on a national publication's list of colleges "most hostile" to LGBT students.

The private Christian campus in Point Lookout was the only Missouri institution included on the Top 20 list, part of the Princeton Review's 2018 edition of the Best 382 Colleges. It is a reference guide for prospective college students.

"We are a Christian institution and we are very clear about that," said Valorie Coleman, public relations director for the 1,500-student college. "That is who we are. We are a religious institution that adheres to a Christian world view."

Coleman said the college was aware of the ranking and while it would not have chosen the adjective "hostile," its lack of tolerance for sexual immorality is well-documented in the policies on its website.

"We are pretty transparent about it," she said. "We are very open with anyone seeking admission here."

The college's lifestyle and sexuality policy, which is part of the handbook, states that "human sexuality is a gift from God" and that "sex assigned at birth is a person's God-given, objective gender, whether or not it differs from their internal sense of 'gender identity.'"

According to the policy, students and employees face disciplinary action — including dismissal — for "gender expression inconsistent with sex assigned at birth," gender transition, sexual relations with a person of the same sex or a person other than his or her spouse, possession of pornographic materials, and "touching, caressing and other physical conduct of a sexual nature" with a person of the same gender.

The college dubbed "Hard Work U" allows students to work on campus while enrolled so they graduate without any debt.

Coleman encouraged prospective students to visit campus and read the policies to see if the college is the "right fit" before applying.

In the 2018 publication from the Princeton Review, the College of the Ozarks was also included among the best regional colleges in the Midwest. The college made a string of Top 10 lists including most conservative, most religious, and most intolerant of drugs and alcohol.

The college was ranked No. 2 on the list of "Stone-Cold Sober Schools."

According to the publication, the rankings were based on reviewing college data and survey results from 137,000 students.

Responses to the survey question "Students treat all persons equally, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity" served as the basis for the Top 20 colleges most and least hostile to LGBT students.

On the most hostile list, the only other regional institution included was The University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, which was No. 15.

The Top 10 most hostile to LGBT students included:

10. University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa

9. Hillsdale College (Michigan)

8. Hampden-Sydney College (Virginia)

7. Baylor University (Texas)

6. Grove City College (Pennsylvania)

5. University of Tennessee-Knoxville

4. Brigham Young (Utah)

3. Gordon College (Massachusetts)

2. Auburn University (Alabama)

1. College of the Ozarks

No colleges from Missouri or Arkansas appeared on the list of Top 20 colleges that are most friendly to LGBT students. Here is the Top 10 list of least hostile colleges:

10. Grinnell College (Iowa)

9. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (Massachusetts)

8. Vassar College (New York)

7. Agnes Scott College (Georgia)

6. Sarah Lawrence College (New York)

5. Mount Holyoke College (Massachusetts)

4. Warren Wilson College (North Carolina)

3. Emerson College (Boston)

2. College of the Atlantic (Maine)

1. Bryn Mawr College (Pennsylvania)

Other rankings

College of the Ozarks announced Friday that it also received top honors by Forbes and Money Magazine.

Forbes has ranked College of the Ozarks as No. 1 of the Top 25 Low-Debt Private Colleges 2017.

College of the Ozarks is ranked within the 650 Top Colleges in the Nation, coming in at No. 235.

Money Magazine ranked College of the Ozarks as the No. 1 College in Missouri on their list, The Best Colleges in Every State.