Ohio U ranks No. 1 for parties

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio University, set in an Appalachian town known for its rowdy Halloween bashes, has been named the nation’s No. 1 party school, pushing the University of Georgia down a slot in the 2011 Princeton Review survey released Monday.

Ohio was No. 2 in last year’s survey of students nationwide but has never before reached the top.

Rounding out the top five this year were No. 3 University of Mississippi, No. 4 University of Iowa and No. 5 University of California Santa Barbara.

The Princeton Review survey is part of its 2012 edition of “The Best 376 Colleges,” which includes 61 other rankings in categories such as best professors (Wellesley College in Massachusetts), most beautiful campus (Florida Southern College) best campus food (Wheaton College in Illinois) and highest financial aid satisfaction (Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania).

Brigham Young University in Utah tops the list of stone-cold sober schools for the 14th straight year.

Kent Smith, vice president for student affairs at Ohio University, said the school has seen a decrease in what administrators call “high-risk behavior.”

“Are some students partying too much? Absolutely,” Smith said. “I’m not negating that. But I just don’t believe that the Ohio University student is abnormal in comparison with the majority of other universities in the country.”