In addition to 13 national champions, the University now has another reason to hold the number 13 dear to its heart. The Princeton Review named the University number 13 on its list of the top 20 party schools for the 2010-2011 school year. UA missed the 2009-2010 rankings, but sat at number 19 in the 2008-2009 rankings.
This year’s top three party schools are the University of Georgia, Ohio University and Penn State, respectively. Florida and Ole Miss also placed in the top 20 of the rankings.
However, the University’s priority is not the party scene, Deborah Lane, assistant vice president for University relations said in an e-mailed statement.
“UA places more emphasis on our academic reputation,” she said. “Clearly, as indicated from both the increased number of applicants and our growth, prospective students are attracted to the academic quality they are finding at The University of Alabama.”
The Princeton Review decides the order of the rankings by acquiring information from students nationwide about their college experiences. The main factors that make a college or university a party school, the Princeton Review website states, are Greek life, time spent studying and drug and alcohol usage.
Students’ feelings varied about the University’s placing on the list.
Jessica Bisset, a senior majoring in music management, said she thinks the University deserves to be on the list, though she thinks it should be closer to the top.
“We are definitely active on the party scene,” she said.
Grayson Martin, a junior majoring in public relations, said he also thinks the University placing in the top 20 is appropriate, as he’s heard groups of people who have parties planned nearly every weekend, though it’s not necessarily something in which he takes pride.
“I think we kind of live up to that reputation in a way I wish we didn’t,” Martin said.
Despite differing opinions about the University making the list, Chris Thompson, a freshman majoring in math, said academics are not affected, regardless. As long as students keep good grades, he said, it’s OK to party.
Another issue the University’s ranking raised is how the party school distinction will affect recruitment.
Chelsea Manning, a senior majoring in dance, said she thinks the University’s place on the list of top party schools could affect enrollment both positively and negatively—it could boost enrollment from students who like to party, but it could also lower enrollment from students who are looking for a school based more strictly on academics.
On the other hand, Joe Dees, a graduate student in economics, said he doesn’t think the list will sway students’ decisions to attend the University one way or the other because usually, he said, many factors go into college selection.
“People are going to go where they’re going to go,” he said.
Jessica Sorrell, a former Ohio University student, shared some UA students’ sentiments. She said she doesn’t think the list or partying affects the education at the school. There isn’t much else to do besides party in a small town, she said. Ohio University is located in Athens, about an hour and a half from Columbus and has a population of 63,255, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“The academics were really good, but when the sun went down everything changed,” Sorrell said.
Sorrell said the list could have an effect on enrollment.
“That probably changes [prospective students’] thinking; like, yeah, I think I could have a good time here,” she said.
