University of Texas Ranks No. 15 on Party School List

College students consider the University of Iowa the nation's best party school according to the Princeton Review.

While Iowa nabbed the top ranking Monday on a list determined by 126,000 students in a nationwide survey, the University of Texas at Austin ranked 15th on the list.

The organization also released its "stone-cold sober schools" list -- led again this year by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah; and followed by Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. No Texas institutions made the top 20.

The rankings are based on surveys in which an average of 333 students per campus are asked 80 questions about a range of subjects in the last three school years. Its methodology uses a five-point scale, allowing for school-to-school comparisons.

But the No. 1 spot seems out of step with national data released this year showing fewer Hawkeyes are drinking and engaging in high-risk drinking. The percentage of Iowa students who reported drinking in the last 30 days (75 percent) was the lowest in 20 years of studies, even if it was above the national average.

The Princeton Review senior vice president Robert Franek said its lists are based completely on students' opinions, and that Iowa's ranking does not diminish the Review's "great respect" for the school's academics or progress it's made regarding alcohol issues on campus.

The privately held education services company has published "The Best 378 Colleges" book annually since 1992. It includes 62 lists, such as the best-run college -- Claremont McKenna College in California -- and best college library -- Columbia University in New York City.

Top 20 Party Schools

Rank	School	City
1.	University of Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa
2.	University of California, Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara, Calif.
3.	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Urbana, Ill.
4.	West Virginia University	Morgantown W. Va.
5.	Syracuse University	Syracuse, N.Y.
6.	University of Florida	Gainesville, Fla.
7.	Ohio University	Athens, Ohio
8.	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Madison, Wis.
9.	Penn State University	University Park, Pa.
10.	Lehigh University	Bethlehem, Pa.
11.	University of Georgia	Athens, Ga.
12.	Florida State University	Tallahassee, Fla.
13.	DePauw University	Greencastle, Ind.
14.	University of Mississippi	University, Miss.
15.	University of Texas at Austin	Austin, Texas
16.	Miami University of Ohio	Oxford, Ohio
17.	University of Maryland	College Park, Md.
18.	Tulane University	New Orleans, La.
19.	University of Vermont	Burlington, Vt.
20.	University of Oregon	Eugene, Ore.

Top 20 Sober Schools

Rank	School	City
1.	Brigham Young University	Provo, Utah
2.	Wheaton College	Wheaton, Ill.
3.	College of the Ozarks	Point Lookout, Mo.
4.	Thomas Aquinas College	Santa Paula, Calif.
5.	U.S. Military Academy	West Point, N.Y.
6.	Grove City College	Grove City, Pa.
7.	Wesleyan College	Macon, Ga.
8.	U.S. Coast Guard Academy	New London, Conn.
9.	U.S. Naval Academy	Annapolis, Md.
10.	Calvin College	Grand Rapids, Mich.
11.	City University of New York-Brooklyn College	Brooklyn, N.Y.
12.	City University of New York-City College	New York City
13.	City University of New York-Queens College	Flushing, N.Y.
14.	Mills College	Oakland, Calif.
15.	Agnes Scott College	Atlanta/Decatur, Ga.
16.	Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	Needham, Mass.
17.	California Institute of Technology	Pasadena, Calif.
18.	Simmons College	Boston
19.	Wellesley College	Wellesley, Mass.
20.	Xavier University of Louisiana	New Orleans

Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., and David Mercer in Champaign, Ill., contributed to this report.