Who tops the list of party colleges?

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- The University of Tennessee got a No. 1 ranking it didn't want -- a survey of college students says it's the nation's top "party school."

The designation by The Princeton Review was greeted unenthusiastically by leaders of the 28,000-student school, which has been seeking to reverse a decade of weak funding from the state and is searching for a new president.

"We've always wanted to be on somebody's short list," joked Richard Rhoda, executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. "Will there be fallout? I would imagine we will be ridiculed by some over the ranking. But I would hope not in serious circles."

Tennessee, ranked No. 6 on last year's party school list, supplanted Louisiana State University, which dropped to No. 2. Nine of the 20 top party schools were in the South.

The Princeton Review is a division of New York-based Random House publishers. It is not affiliated with Princeton University.

The Review draws up the lists based on a 70-question survey given randomly to some 65,000 students. Students rate their own schools, based on consumption of alcohol and marijuana, and other criteria.

"There are some students here who do party very hard," UT-Knoxville student president Bradford Bricken said. "But there are some students that study all the time, too."

The top 20 party schools, according to the Review:

1. University of Tennessee

2. Louisiana State University

3. University of California-Santa Cruz

4. Florida State University

5. University of Colorado

6. University of Alabama

7. St. Bonaventure University

8. Ohio State University

9. University of Wisconsin

10. University of Florida

11. University of New Hampshire

12. University of Georgia

13. University of Texas

14. Tulane University

15. Lehigh University

16. New York University

17. Colgate University

18. University of Vermont

19. Southern Methodist University

20. University of California-Santa Barbara

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