Playboy's Top Ten Party Schools

Our highly scientific study of the books, babes and beer

It's a distinction for a university that ranks right up there with the number of Nobel Prize winners on its faculty--at least in the minds of the students. It's the one honor for which everybody on campus can claim some credit. We're of course talking about a spot on Playboy'S Top 10 Party Schools list.

Only twice have we published a list of colleges and universities distinguished by their high General Party Aptitude. Students at California State University, Chico, our top pick in 1987, still brag about the title as if it were a national championship. Four years ago Arizona State topped the roster. This year it's Wisconsin. Take a look at this crew (left) and you'll see why.

To come up with the 2006 list, we found ourselves using an entirely new set of criteria. Campuses serve as a cultural barometer, and in recent years we've noticed a shift in the way students approach indulgence. It isn't just about bloodshot eyes and panties hanging in the trees anymore. After talking with countless students and professors at the 250 universities we visited in the past year, we found that students value overall lifestyle more than ever. They appreciate climate, the student body (figuratively and literally), the club and music scenes, the quality of their education and athletic programs--as well as the cost of a six-pack. We've taken all that into account. Still, one thing will never change. Beautiful women who love to get naked--that's a party. Let us matriculate.

University of Wisconsin, Madison

The Halloween party on State Street draws 100,000 revelers from all over the Midwest. Every April, the mayor of Madison gets his underwear in a bunch when 30,000 carousers descend on the Mifflin Street block party. Badger hysteria at Camp Randall Stadium rivals the madness up north at Green Bay Packers games. Music fans are especially happy: The scene in Madison is the equal of any small city's. In a single week last November, Henry Rollins, Trey Anastasio, Dick Dale, (text concluded on page 142) Party Schools (continued from page 109) Susan Tedeschi and Jeff Tweedy all stopped off in Mad Town. Not bad for a school with a sharp academic reputation.

University of California, Santa Barbara

Perched on the sandy Pacific coast, UCSB is an intellectual's paradise: a school full of brains who know how to party. Students surf to class from their beachfront dorms. The school's most popular course is Geography of Surfing. While dude remains a staple in the vernacular, these students are hardly burnouts. The UCSB faculty boasts five Nobel laureates honored in the past eight years. With the City of Angels and Big Sur a road trip away, this is California at its best.

Arizona State University

The ASU campus--an Eden-like desert oasis full of orange and palm trees--features some serious sightseeing. ASU's students are renowned for their pulchritude and for skirts that resemble hula hoops. The Tempe, Arizona region has more sunny days per year (300) than any other in America. Whether it's the bars on Mill Avenue or the massive party that surrounds the Fiesta Bowl every January, there's no end to the fun at ASU. No wonder it has the highest enrollment in the country.

Indiana University, Bloomington

In recent years everyone from USA Today to Time and Newsweek has named this school one of the best when it comes to student life. The Princeton Review called it the number one beer-drinking school in America. It's the only school in the world where students can honestly say they're majoring in sex and doing their homework while watching Vivid videos at the Kinsey Institute, which houses the papers of sexual explorer Alfred Kinsey. If this school is known for any one thing, however, it's the Little 500 intramural bike-and-booze fest that inspired the 1979 movie Breaking Away.

San Diego State University

Where else can you hit the beach in the morning, eat huevos rancheros in Tijuana and still make it to your first class on time? In addition to the weather and prime location, SDSU features a football program with home games at Qualcomm Stadium, where Super Bowl XXXVII was played. Nearby Pacific Beach is one of California's hippest seaside enclaves, with bars like Moondoggies and the Typhoon Saloon. San Diego's high quality of living isn't drawing just students; SDSU has attracted more than $516 million in external research grants in the past six years, dollars that trickle down to undergrads.

Florida State University

The best party in Florida every year forms around Doak Campbell Stadium when FSU hosts the University of Florida or the University of Miami. "The entire city starts to load up two days beforehand," says student Mike Ellis. Don't get us wrong; FSU is a good time on any night. The Greek system is huge, the non-Greek party scene is just as big, and the jazz clubs in Tallahassee offer a great night on the town. Bonus: You have to hand it to a faculty that includes two Playboy contributors--philosophy professor Michael Ruse (Faith ? Reason, April) and English prof Mark Winegardner (NASCAR Crash Course, October 2005).

Ohio University

At Ohio the students aren't the only ones who know how to have a good time. "One of the craziest weekends is moms' weekend," says junior Kamelia Berke (seen on page 115). "You'll see moms in frat houses--some are more out of control than their kids!" Ohio hosts a notorious 25,000-strong Halloween block party that's known as the Mardi Gras of the Midwest, and it has a raging Greek scene. Court Street in Athens (not to be confused with Athens, Georgia) is a bargoer's paradise.

University of Georgia

The country's preeminent college music scene emanates from the dozens of clubs within a one-mile radius of this school's campus. From the 40 Watt Club (which helped launch Athens-born band R.E.M.) to the Georgia Theatre (which serves as the backdrop for John Mayer's "No Such Thing" video) to Tasty World (the coolest club on Broad Street), no school howls louder than Georgia when the sun sets. UGA is also famous for its football, its bar scene and its beautiful women. "Even when they wear their pajamas to class, they're still hot," one student tell us.

University of Tennessee

"This place is all about Southern belles and Southern hospitality," says Tennessee student Adam Bryant. "It's real laid-back. And Southern women? They're hard to beat." Turns out you get what you ask for in Elvis's home state: great local music, beautiful women, plenty of cheesesteaks and a party scene to rival any other. School spirit blazes in Knoxville. When the Volunteers play, some 200 boats line the Tennessee River for a "sailgate" outside 104,079-seat Neyland Stadium. Simply wearing orange will get you free beer at most parties, and as General Robert R. Neyland himself might have asked, isn't that half the battle?

McGill University

Canada's equivalent of an Ivy, McGill is situated in the heart of Montreal, and student life pours out into the "city of sin." The drinking age is 18. The city boasts bevies of sophisticated francophone women, "the most vibrant indie-rock scene in the world right now," according to music mag Under the Radar, and the swankiest strip clubs this side of Vegas. Montreal is also arguably the best hockey town on the planet, and Canadiens games are a staple. When students need a break? The Mont Tremblant ski resort is only 90 minutes away.

We needed stinkin' Badgers to show us how they roll in Wisconsin, and a frat (or perhaps only its pledges) gladly cleaned up its house to host the girls of Madison. Top, from left: Fallon O'Connor-Brooks, Becca Trey, Justine Welter, Narisa Limpanathon, Shady Katie. Middle: Christina Marie, Simona Péna, Kristi Linn, Andrea Bliss, Ali Bartholin, Brenna Matthews, Carly Klein. Bottom: Katie Gerding, Tara Marie, Brigid Kelly, Colleen Glandt, Bethany Marie, Aurora Marie.

The Top 10

1. Wisconsin

2. UC Santa Barbara

3. Arizona State

4. Indiana

5. San Diego State

6. Florida State

7. Ohio

8. Georgia

9. Tennessee

10. McGill

1. Wisconsin

Best Annual Party: The 100,000-strong Halloween bash on State Street

Sexiest New Trend: Full-contact female roller derby

Best Two A.M. Eatery: La Bamba, where burritos are "as big as your head"

U of W MBA'S Average Starting Salary: $74,332

Opposite: Ana Noelle is a senior art major who aims for a career in interior design. She is shown here on laundry day, but the rest of the week she is out at jazz clubs. When sick of trudging from bar to bar in nippy Madison, she rents hotel suites and heats things up with steamy Jacuzzi parties.

2. UC Santa Barbara

Most Popular Class:

Geography of Surfing

Notable Alumni:

Michael Douglas, Benjamin Bratt, Robert Ballard

Campus Factoid: Comprises 989 acres of Pacific coastline

Faculty's Claim to Fame:

Five Nobel Prizes in the past eight years

Top right: Suzie Anderson, a.k.a. Sexy Suzy, is a communications major. Her beautiful dancer's body is the result of 17 years of ballet. Middle right, from left: Vanessa Mussenden, Andrea Langston, Natalie Bilski, Sabrina Leigh Deltoro, Mimi Moras, Jessica Steinberg, Erica Hernandez and Melanie Campos cool off under the hot California sun at a tiki bar. Bottom right, from left: Tiffany Hamblin, Jennifer Miller and Suzie Anderson get down after dark. Below: Andrea Aymes is a sun-kissed beach babe who runs along the shore to stay in shape. See any tan lines?

3. Arizona State

Best Hangouts: Jenna Jameson's club, the Pussycat Lounge, in nearby Scottsdale; Maloney's on Campus

Claim to Fame: The hottest female student body in the country

Best Place to Study: The Library Bar and Grill

Opposite: Biology major Brittney Leigh carried a 3.7 GPA into her senior year. Studious during the week, she lets her hair down in Scottsdale on the weekends. Brittney's friends took her to Vegas for her 21st birthday, but what happened there couldn't compare to the craziness on campus.

4. Indiana

Best Homework

Assignment: Watching porn at the Kinsey Institute

Notable Alumni: Sportscasters Dick Enberg and Joe Buck, writers Robert Coover and John Crowley

School Rep: A drinking school with a basketball problem

Rabid Rivalry: Purdue hoops

Top, from left: Kelly Dyann, Elizabeth Stepford, Stefani Allen, Ashton Daniels and Victoria Walker get to show their true colors by losing. Stefani says that on a typical night she plays cards at an off-campus house--read 'em and reap. Left: Molly Ann and Corina Marie crowd around a pole. Molly claims that the bars in Bloomington are so packed, she has no place to dance. So she gets up on the tables. Right: April Nicole, Denae Louise and Lisa Ann share a seat. We're not sure what Hoosiers are, but we know we like them.

5. San Diego State

Best Party: Sigma Chi's annual Reggae Sunsplash Favorite Joint: Moondoggies in nearby Pacific Beach

Best Road Trip: Tijuana bullfights

Our Favorite SDSU Student: Katelyn Marie, freshman (opposite, far right)

Opposite, from left: Janáe Nicole likes to "shake her tail feather." Carma Giralayne "used to cause hell for her teachers;" now she is studying to be one. Casey Costa is from a "three-stoplight town." Sofia Deleon abhors seafood, but Katelyn Marie's perfect date involves sushi. Both are great catches.

6. Florida State

Female-to-Male Ratio: 57 to 43

Best Party: Florida State vs. University of Florida football game

Favorite Local Bar: Big Daddy's on West Tennessee Street

Notable Alumni: NFL stars Warrick Dunn, Deion Sanders, Laveranues Coles, Corey Simon, Derrick Brooks, Terrell Buckley, Brad Johnson, Zeke Mowatt, Travis Minor and Anquan Boldin

Near right: Just as Pamela Anderson was discovered by an eagle-eyed cameraman while attending a football game, an ABC lensman picked out Jenn Sterger at the FSU-Miami game last September. Upon seeing the spicy Seminole, sportscaster Brent Musburger noted that "15,000 young red-blooded American men just signed up to go to Florida State." One of the Cowgirls of FSU (hence the hat), Jenn told us that she was invited by the team to attend a recruiting party this spring. Far right: Miami native Jordanna Gross says her goal is to become the next Paris Hilton. This sorority girl makes us long for the days of community showers.

7. Ohio

School Rep: A bargoer's paradise

Favorite Two A.M. Destination: Burrito Buggy

Female-to-Male Ratio: 53 to 47

Best Party: The 25,000-strong Halloween block party in Athens, a.k.a. the Mardi Gras of the Midwest

Below left: Kamelia Berke hopes to work someday in international public health for the Centers for Disease Control. Feel our forehead--it's hot. Center: Communications major Alexandra Angotti reminds us to order a double next time. Her guilty pleasure is gossip magazines; ours is her. Right: Khalei Fogle is a student in the classroom and a Bobcat in her dorm room.

8. Georgia

Hottest Post-Football Game Party Spot: The Fire-house and Flanigans, two bars on East Clayton Street

Female-to-Male Ratio: 57 to 43

Notable Alumni: Michael Stipe, Ryan Seacrest, Dean Rusk, Phil Gramm and five Pulitzer Prize-winning writers

Opposite, from left: Mikaela Karr hates cheesy pickup lines; in class, don't ask her, "Do you come here often?" Colleen Jacobs is wailing for the man of her dreams, preferably a Dawg, to sweep her off her feet. Devon Fowler bartends after classes, but here is a tip for you: She wants a guy with a personality. Hey, you have one of those.

9. Tennessee

Most Popular Class: The History of Rock and Roll

Best Sandwich: The cheesesteak at Gus's Good Times deli

Coolest Party: The pre-football game "sail-gate" outside Neyland Stadium

Top Road Trip: The Bonnaroo festival every June in Manchester

Top left: Originally from Germany, Shea West and her beautiful blonde mane now call Knoxville home. She is studying to be a nurse and coolly states that she is fond of the word bi-curious. Oh, doctor. Near right: Complementing Miss West is an import from the Far East. Korean native Rena Fox may be small in stature but considers herself one of the biggest Tennessee football fans. Far right: Sisters Salem and Peyton Rams are the most popular siblings on campus since the Clausen brothers. Away from class they make a killer doubles-volleyball team. Petite Peyton majors in pharmacy and Salem is a witchy woman studying interior design. We are extremely grateful that all these lady Volunteers lent themselves to the shoot.

10. McGill

Best Birthday-Party Venue: Club Super Sexe on Rue Ste.-Catherine Quest

Notable Alumni: Burt Bacharach, William Shatner, Leonard Cohen and seven Nobel laureates

Female-to-Male Ratio: 3 to 2

Drinking Age: 18

An alluring dimension of McGill's campus is the influence of the francophone Canadians, who are famously open about sex. Left: Brynn Chudleigh and Madison Chi show what fraises are for. Near right Bree Massey pours Baileys into her coffee before class and says algebra turns her on. Far right: Phylis Syd is an actress; maybe McGill alum William Shatner will help her get a leg up in the biz.