Party-school list ranks UA 19th for second year in a row
University of Florida ranks No. 1
TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama held on to its No. 19 spot on the list of top party schools released today by Princeton Review.
Coming in first this year in the company’s annual college guide, “Best 368 Colleges,” is the University of Florida. The Gators, known for wild celebrations following national championships in football and basketball, wrested the party title away from West Virginia University and beat out the University of Mississippi and Penn State University.
Florida has made the top 20 party school list
for the past 15 years but has never been No. 1.
After a three-year absence from the list, UA made it back in 2007, but the 19th spot is lower than in years past when the school regularly appeared in the top 10 rankings. In 2002, the university was ranked third on the party list.
The list of hard-partying schools, along with rankings in other categories, is based on a survey of 120,000 college students at 368 colleges, according to the Princeton Review, which is not affiliated with Princeton University. Colleges on the party list appear because their students reported a high use of alcohol or drugs on campus, low amount of study time outside class and a popular Greek system.
“These rankings get a lot of attention each year, but we don’t put much credence in them,” said Mark Nelson, interim vice president of student affairs at UA in an e-mailed statement. “We are much more interested in our academic rankings. We believe our record applications and growth are strong indicators that students are finding academic quality at UA.”
Before President Robert Witt came to the school in 2002, Barry Mason, then-interim president, saw the university’s party reputation as a detriment to recruiting more academically minded students, and he successfully lobbied the city of Tuscaloosa to curtail bar hours. Since then, Witt has advocated diversity in retail establishments on the Strip, the entertainment district next door to UA, and two bars in a building that UA bought in 2006 have since closed.
While defending Florida’s academic environment, a spokesman for the University of Florida said the party-school reputation stems from the school’s athletic successes. The Gators won two national basketball championships in 2006 and 2007 and one national football title at the end of the 2006 season.
“The fact that we have three national championships in two years is probably a major contributing factor,” spokesman Steve Orlando said. “We know our students like to have a good time.”
The annual rankings also list the nation’s “Stone-Cold Sober Schools,” where Utah’s Brigham Young University held the No. 1 spot for the 11th consecutive year. The survey also added a “green” category this year ranking campuses on their environmentally friendly practices.
Besides partying, UA appeared on four other top 20 lists among the 62 such lists that Princeton Review compiles from the survey. UA was ranked 17th for the least amount of daily study time, 17th in the popularity of intercollegiate athletics on campus, 14th for best athletic facilities and seventh for the most politically conservative students.
Auburn University placed 17th in the most religious students, ninth for the least amount of daily study time and 13th in the “Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution” category, meaning those students tended to be religious and conservative, and have a low acceptance level for the gay community on campus and high support for student government.
Birmingham-Southern College placed No. 1 in the “Major Frat and Sorority Scene.”
The Princeton Review is a New York company known for test preparation courses, educational services and books. It published its first survey findings in August 1992.
Robert Franek, publisher of the guide, said the rankings are meant to show the differences in campus cultures.
“In our opinion, each school in this book is first-rate academically,” he said in a news release. “We believe college applicants need to know far more about schools than an academic ranking to identify which colleges may be best for them. It’s all about the fit.”
Reach Adam Jones at adam.jones@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0230.
1. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. 2. University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss. 3. Penn State University, University Park, Pa. 4. West Virginia University, Morgan-town, W.Va. 5. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 6. Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va. 7. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 8. University of Texas, Austin, Texas 9. University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif. 10. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla. 11. University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H. 12. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. 13. University of Colorado, Boulder, Co. 14. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. 15. Tulane University, New Orleans 16. University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, Urbana, Ill. 17. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. 18. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn. 19. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa 20. Loyola University-New Orleans