Making the cut as a top party school may sound unconventional, but vibrant campus life is a strong selling point for potential college students, and for some alums it brings back fond memories.
When a list comes out ranking U.S. schools by their party scene, it grabs a lot of attention and starts a lot of friendly arguments. Just so you know, this is no random list. It’s scientific.
Stacker compiled the list of the top party schools in the U.S. – ranking colleges by access to nightlife, athletic culture, Greek life and student polling data – with some help from 2018 data collected by Niche, which uses student reviews and nightlife statistics for its rankings.
Students submitted ratings according to the quality of the party life at each school and the proximity and location of bars and restaurants. They were also surveyed about athletics on campus.
Stacker expanded on the information to include a "party scene grade," national party scene rank, location, acceptance rate, and net price to produce a list of 50 highest ranking colleges. Feel free to click through to the whole list and all the data.
Syracuse University, which has been a mainstay on similar lists, is still right there in the thick of things, but some of the other schools might be a surprise.
Here’s the list of 20 top party schools in the U.S., alphabetically backwards:
- Yale University – New Haven, Connecticut
- University of Wyoming – Laramie, Wyoming
- University of Virginia – Charlottesville, Virginia
- University of Texas – Texas, Austin
- Syracuse University – Syracuse, New York
- University of South Dakota – Columbia, South Dakota
- Providence College – Providence, Rhode Island
- University of Oregon – Eugene, Oregon
- University of Oklahoma – Norman, Oklahoma
- North Dakota State University – Fargo, North Dakota
- Miami University – Oxford, Ohio
- University of New Mexico – Albuquerque, New Mexico
- University of Montana – Missoula, Montana
- Michigan State University – East Lansing, Michigan
- University of Kentucky – Lexington, Kentucky
- University of Idaho – Mocow, Idaho
- Florida State University – Tallahassee, Florida
- East Carolina University – Greenville, North Carolina
- University of Delaware – Newark, Delaware
- University of Arkansas – Fayetteville, Arkansas