The Princeton Review’s annual college rankings are out, and the University of Iowa tops their “Party Schools” list.
Iowa ranked number four on the Party Schools list in 2012.
The rankings are based on surveys of 126,000 students from 378 colleges and universities across the country. Students answer 80 questions and schools are ranked in 62 categories.
The “Party Schools” list is based on answers to survey questions about the use of alcohol and drugs on campus, the popularity of the Greek system and how many hours students say they spend studying outside of the classroom.
The Review says University of Iowa students reported, “There is always a party going on here at Iowa,” and “Hard liquor is popular.”
A statement released by the university said, “At the University of Iowa we are taking a proactive approach to reducing high-risk drinking by implementing multiple, mutually reinforcing, research-based strategies on campus and in collaboration with our community partners.” The statement goes on to say the number of students who reported drinking in the past 30 days and the average number of drinks consumed are down since 2009, and that alcohol-related crime and emergency room visits also decreased.
“In summary, in each of the last four years, alcohol harm to our students has decreased,” the statement said. “It is, frankly, still too high. We are heartened, though, by the steady progress we have made and are committed to continuing this progress.”
The University of Iowa also ranked in several other lists in the annual Princeton Review: It was #1 Lots of Hard Liquor, #4 Students Study the Least, #4 Lots of Beer, #7 Students Pack the Stadiums and #18 Lots of Greek Life.
Joining the University of Iowa in the top five for “Party Schools” are University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, West Virginia University and Syracuse University.
