Top party school moniker gives Longhorns reason to celebrate

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Longhorns earned another national title Monday, not for football but as the country’s best party school.

The University of Texas at Austin beat Penn State University, West Virginia University and last year’s winner, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the Princeton Review survey of 115,000 students at campuses around the country.

It topped the overall list – its first time atop the Princeton Review chart – by ranking second in the use of hard liquor, third in beer drinking and 13th in marijuana smoking.

For the ninth straight year, Brigham Young University was voted the most “stone cold sober” school.

UT spokesman Don Hale said campus leaders don’t take such rankings very seriously.

“I know there were a lot of good parties here after we won the national football championship, and I’m going to guess that a lot of the kids who filled out the survey remembered those parties,” he said.

Student body president Danielle Rugoff said the school had a vibrant social scene even before the top ranking. With about 1,000 student groups, including more than 50 social sororities and fraternities, it’s easy to find a way to unwind after a long day of studying, she said.

“It’s such a unique environment,” said Rugoff, a senior government major. “It allows for students to just live life to the fullest and have such a rich academic environment and rigorous academic program and still have an amazing time and enjoy being in college.”

The party school list is included in the Princeton Review’s “Best 361 Colleges” guide, which goes on sale today. The company is not affiliated with Princeton University.

It contrasts with U.S. News and World Report’s annual guide to “America’s Best Colleges,” where UT-Austin tied with four other schools in 47th place.