IU ranks 15th party school in nation

IU has been cracking down on the drinking atmosphere since the bad publicity of being ranked the No. 1 party school by the Princeton Review in 2002, junior Madeline Stivers said.

But the University has less to worry about after this year’s ranking.

In the Princeton Review’s “The Best 373 Colleges 2011 Edition,” which lists 62 categories with surveys of more than 122,000 students, IU placed 15th on the party list, as well as sixth for “lots of hard liquor,” 15th for “best college newspaper,” 17th for “lots of beer” and 20th for “students pack the stadiums.”

Stivers said the party school rating is true but does not reflect IU poorly.

“It is about how you balance your school life,” Stivers said. “You have a great time, and it is also a valuable degree.”

According to the Review’s latest edition, “Although many think of Indiana University as ‘a party school with an active greek population’ — an image students reinforce when they insist that IU is ‘about going to massive parties ... and getting the job done, but not being defined by schoolwork.’”

Some students are attracted to the ranking when coming to IU and might be influenced by the University’s greek system, Stivers said. However, she said that image is not the main part of IU.

U.S. News & World Report agreed, ranking, for example, the Kelley School of Business 12th for its undergraduate program this year.

“In any school, there is a social part, and it’s a minority or a majority,” said recent graduate Cody Baldwin.

Baldwin said he thinks the IU community is not focused on partying.

“It is still really productive in some areas, such as the journalism and business,” Baldwin said.

The University is not paying much attention to the ranking, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.

“It’s just a gimmick from the Princeton Review to stir publicity, and this whole party school ranking has no meaning,” he said.