The 2010 list of top party schools published by the Princeton Review may help prospective students decide on “the ultimate college experience,” as one blog post put it, but the list continues to garner the consternation of university administrators and college health care personnel. The American Medical Association has repeatedly asked the editors of the Princeton Review to discontinue the listing and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has published sobering statistics on the results of college binge drinking, or “episodic drinking.” University administrators view the top party school list as unscientific and a misrepresentation of their institutions.
A Chief Element of Making the List Involves Campus Drinking
In the 1973 film The Paper Chase, two first-year law students at Harvard decide to get drunk after several hours of intense studying. Drinking, it would seem, has always been a part of the college experience, particularly for students enjoying greater freedom and independence than they had in high school. But the top twenty list does not include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or even Duke. Almost all of the institutions are public state universities. Annemarie Mountz, a spokesperson for Penn State, the number one party school in 2009, told CBS on July 27, 2009 that the Princeton survey is "not connected to reality" and that Penn State's survey respondents represented less than 1% of campus enrollment.
When the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany was awarded the distinction of being the Princeton Review’s top “party school” in 2004, university officials sent a statement to the Chronicle of Higher Education noting that the Princeton Review is “known for cursory, unscientific surveys.” The official also wrote that, “If this were a term paper, it would get an F in methodology.” (Elizabeth F. Farrell, Chronicle, September 3, 2004, Section: Students, Vol. 51, Issue 2, p. A39)
At issue is the perceived glamor of campus drinking through parties and fraternity activities. In 2002, Indiana University at Bloomington received the “top party” school distinction. Responding to the ranking, William B. Stephan, Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations fired back that the institution’s “very unique and socially dynamic atmosphere is not fueled by alcohol.” (Chronicle, September 6, 2002, Section: Students, Vol. 49, Issue 2, p A48)
Does the Princeton Review Listing Contribute to Reckless Endangerment?
According to NIAAA data, 1,825 “college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries…” based on 2005 figures, although the trend has been rising since statistics were kept. Alcohol abuse on university campuses impacted assaults, sexual abuse, academic problems, drunk driving, suicide attempts, and health problems.
The “Top Party School List” has also encouraged similar unscientific surveys conducted by college students themselves such as “Texts From Last Night” and “ Party School Texts,” started by students at the University of Florida. (Chronicle, April 9, 2010) According to the Chronicle blog, the students “say their method is better than the Princeton Review’s.
Although university officials are taking steps to curb rampant drinking, the use of alcohol, according to the NIAAA, is on the rise. A July 2010 study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research found that only one third of universities were monitoring illegal alcohol purchases.
The combination of student-driven websites designed ostensibly to entertain, top party school lists publicized by a reputable publisher in order to show every side of campus life, and the inability of college communities to monitor the use of alcohol by underage students has led to many unnecessary tragedies.
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