Princeton Review Offers Guide for Families of College-Bound Students
by Jim Brown
August 24, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The author of an annual college review guide says parents writing those huge tuition checks might want to take a close look at one of several recently unveiled lists of U.S. colleges and universities. It isn't the list of America's best institutions of higher learning, but rather its top ten "party schools."The school ranked by the "Princeton Review's Best Colleges" guide as the number-one campus for partying this year is the University of Texas at Austin. According to the Princeton Review's findings, UT earned this dubious distinction for its consumption of hard liquor, beer, and marijuana. The student body president at UT-Austin says the school has a "unique environment" that allows students to have "an amazing time."
Rob Franek, author of "Best 361 Colleges, 2006," says the Princeton Review uses specific guidelines for ranking the nation's top party schools. He says those compiling the yearly publication look at carefully selected criteria from current college students nationwide to make the final determinations.
"We got back a little over 115,000 responses from current college students," Franek notes, "on questions such as popularity of alcohol and drugs on campus, hours of study spent outside of the classroom, and then, popularity of fraternities and sororities on campus." This year, he observes, Pennsylvania State, West Virginia University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Mississippi round out the five biggest party schools in America.
The author says the Princeton Review college guide ranks the social life on a campus, among other aspects of collegiate life, because of the importance of the social scene to incoming students and alumni. Also, he adds, this listing is done because parents need to know what kind of campus environment their son or daughter can expect to encounter at a given school.
"The mission of the book," Franek explains, "is to make sure that, for schools that have an unapologetically sought-after social scene, that that information gets down to college-bound students and their families." And for those moms and dads who may want to scratch the party schools off their incoming freshman's list of prospects, he notes, Best 361 Colleges, 2006 also lists the nation's top ten "Stone Cold Sober" schools.
For the ninth consecutive year, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, ranks first among America's "Stone Cold Sober" campuses. Following that Mormon school is Wheaton College, a private, interdenominational Christian school in Illinois and College of the Ozarks, a small liberal arts college between Hollister and Branson, Missouri.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
