IOWA CITY, Iowa — College students consider the University of Iowa the nation’s best party school, even though Iowa City has tried to make its famous bar scene less hospitable to underage drinkers.

The Princeton Review bestowed Iowa with the top ranking Monday on a list determined by 126,000 students in a nationwide survey. Rounding out the Top 5 are: University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; West Virginia University; and Syracuse University.

The organization also released its “stone-cold sober schools” list — led again this year by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah; and followed by Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill.

Officials in Iowa City aren’t celebrating the ranking, which comes after recent strides in the battle against binge drinking on campus and downtown. University of Iowa spokesman Tom Moore said The Princeton Review “gets some things right,” by describing Iowa as an affordable Big Ten university with students who are both studious and social.

“That indicates they are balancing their academic responsibilities with their social pursuits,” he said.

The rankings are based on surveys in which an average of 333 students per campus are asked 80 questions about a range of subjects in the last three school years. Its methodology uses a five-point scale, allowing for school-to-school comparisons.

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Universities routinely dismiss the rankings as unscientific and invalid, while praising the free publicity that comes along with positive ones. For instance, Emerson College is likely to embrace its ranking Monday as the most LGBT-friendly school, and the University of Mississippi will certainly tout its “most beautiful campus” designation.

The No. 1 spot seems out of step with national data released this year showing fewer Hawkeyes are drinking and engaging in high-risk drinking. The percentage of Iowa students who reported drinking in the last 30 days (75 percent) was the lowest in 20 years of studies, even if it was above the national average.

A 2010 ordinance requiring customers to be 21 to enter bars is credited with reducing drinking.

The Princeton Review senior vice president Robert Franek said that Iowa’s ranking does not diminish the Review’s “great respect” for the school’s academics or progress it’s made regarding alcohol issues on campus.

 


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