Survey ranks UW-Madison top party school

By JR ROSS
Associated Press Writer

August 22, 2005, 4:44 PM EDT

MADISON, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-Madison topped the list of the nation's party schools Monday despite a decade-long effort by school officials to reduce its reputation for heavy drinking.

UW-Madison has ranked among the top party schools on the annual Princeton Review report in 13 out of the 14 years it has compiled the list and was No. 3 a year ago. Meanwhile, Brigham Young University was tops among "stone cold sober" schools for the eighth straight year.

The list, which is not affiliated with Princeton University, is based on on-line surveys of more than 110,000 college students and included in the Princeton Review's "Best 361 Colleges."

The top party schools rankings are based on survey responses regarding alcohol and drug use, hours of study each day, and the number of students in fraternities and sororities.

UW-Madison has long had a reputation for heavy drinking, ranking No. 3 this year for the amount of beer and hard liquor consumed. Still, the school touts its nine-year program to cut down on binge drinking they it says had led to a drop in students who drink to excess, fewer admissions to local detoxification centers and more freshman who say they don't drink at all.

"We're not trying to tell students that they can't drink at all, but they really do need to learn how to drink responsibly," said Susan Crawley, who heads the effort.

Still, the school's reputation has been hard to shake. Its annual spring party drew 20,000 revelers this year, while Halloween weekend has been marred by riots the last two years as thousands have descended upon the city.

Senior Liz Drilias lunched Monday at the student union, where the school has a bar and had the beer taps open by noon. She said the ranking was no surprise but no source of pride, either.

"People get a bad image of Madison, that we just drink all the time," Drilias said. "There are people who are like that, but there are just as many people who aren't."

The other top party schools are:
Ohio University in Athens
Lehigh University in Pennsylvania
University of California-Santa Barbara
State University of New York at Albany
Indiana University-Bloomington
University of Mississippi
University of Iowa
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Loyola University New Orleans
Tulane University in New Orleans
University of Georgia
Penn State University
West Virginia University
The University of Texas-Austin
University of Tennessee-Knoxville
University of New Hampshire
University of Florida
Louisiana State University
University of Maryland-College Park

Party on . . . ::