IU falls to No. 16 party school

IU has been named the country’s No. 16 party school in the 2011 Princeton Review survey released Monday.
 
Ohio University topped the list, knocking the University of Georgia down a slot from
last year. Ohio has made the list numerous times the past decade, but this is the first time it earned the No. 1 title.

IU has also been ranked in the top 20 party schools several times in the past 10 years.

In 2002, the University appeared out of left field to claim the No. 1 spot. IU was not on the list at all in 2001.

The placement was met with speculation and derision by campus officials at
the time.

“The notion of party school has become synonymous with alcohol, which is a perversion,” said then-IU Dean of Students Richard McKaig in August 2002.

Bill Stephan, vice president for public affairs at the time, told the Associated Press the school had been cracking down on partying following the 1998 alcohol-related death of a student. In 2000, five IU fraternities were suspended or expelled after violating alcohol policies.

“I think there are some serious questions about the methodology of the study and it really calls into question the credibility of the ranking,” Stephan said.

The methodology is one based on surveys filled out by 122,000 students across the country through email. Around 325 students from each of the 370
schools responded this year.

Altogether, there are 60 lists in Princeton Review’s survey, including categories ranking the most beautiful campus, best dorms and best campus food.

Princeton Review is a test preparation and college admissions company with no affiliation to Princeton University. The results of the surveys are published in its annual guidebook, “The Best 376 Colleges.”

Since 2005, IU has seen a decline in its party school ranking, sliding down the list from No. 6 that year to the low teens in the later part of the decade.

IU spokesman Mark Land called the survey an “inexact science,” and said the party school list is not something the University puts much stock in.

“Obviously, we don’t try to be on the list,” Land said.

This year, IU was also ranked on various other Princeton Review lists, including “most popular study abroad program.” Additionally, IU is ranked as having one of the top ten college theaters in the nation.
 
“The party list gets the most attention,” Land said. “But if you do pay attention to those kinds of lists, there are other lists that better reflect the entire IU experience.”