Top Party Schools 2011

the spirit of academia, we put serious I homework into our party schools list. We gather info from thousands of students through our Playboy on-campus

Facebook pages, survey our >

student reps at schools I

oss North America and interview countless

others. We draw ud 1

stats (male-^. female

ratio, winning percentage of sports teams, etc.) and add bonus points for schools in the vicinity of beaches, ski slopes and music scenes. And as always, we factor in academic excellence, because the work hard, play

lard ethic is the . DNA of any party

school. Shall we matriculate?

CU-Boulder is home to reefer madness. Not only does Boulder have 50 medical-marijuana dispensaries within its city limits, but every April nearly half the university's 24,000-plus undergrads turn out for the

annual 4/20 smoke-out on school grounds. Boulder is also a beer drinker's paradise, with four breweries in town. "There are a lot of distractions from school—snowboarding, mountain biking, superhot girls," says one

alum. Literally dozens of world-class ski resorts are a drive away. "You know Boul­der is a party school because whenever you tell someone that you went there, the first thing they ask is, 'Did you graduate?'"

#2 PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

In addition to its formidable football legacy, this "public ivy" has formidable thirst. Take for example the aplomb with which Penn State celebrates St. Patrick's Day: Students and local bar owners fete the day of drinking one week early. "It falls dur­ing spring break, so we do it ahead of schedule," a student explains. "The bars open in the morning, and green beer flows." Penn State students don't let anything stand in the way of an alcohol-soaked holiday—not even an alcohol-soaked vacation.

#3 ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

The Sun Devils live up to their name. Thanks to Tempe's toasty climate, there's always a wealth of exposed skin at ASU. "Only in Arizona can you have outrageous pool parties in February," says a senior. At night students head to Tempe's bar-hopping nirvana, the Mill Avenue District. Plus, we give props to a school that turned streaking into a yearly tradition. Every spring ASU holds the Undie Run, a charitable event in which thou­sands of students strip and run around campus. Did we mention that Nick Nolte is an alum?

#4 UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO

More than 20,000 undergrads enjoy a drink­ing age of 19 at this London, Ontario school. The bar scene is kicking. On Tuesdays students cram into Ceeps to play Sledgehammer Bingo, which is basically an excuse to strip and drink (as if one were needed), and both St. Patrick's Day and Halloween are monumental occasions as well. The on-campus scene is just as lively. One of the school's dorms became so notorious for partying it was nicknamed the Zoo.

#5 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Even if UT Austin didn't have a top-notch football team and an inordinately attrac­tive female student body, it would still make our list. Why? Because it's located in one of the coolest cities in the country. Austin is known for its stellar nightlife and music scene, and last year it was dubbed the third best city for singles. As one student sums up, "Austin is the music capital of the U.S. and a blue dot in a sea of red." Don't mess with Texas.

#6 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

In Badgerland the beer flows freely, there's always a sports team to toast and every night offers an array of things to do. Even winter can't squelch that feisty Badger spirit; Madison's frosty temps

give students one more reason to imbibe and cozy up to a warm body. And then there are the epic weekend-long parties—Halloween and the Mifflin Street Block Party being the two standout events. Past celebrations got so big, riots broke out.

#7 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Football, sorority girls and drinking are the pillars of SEC life, and UGA reps all three with gusto. In downtown Athens, dozens of bars are crammed into a two-block radius—so no matter what your definition of an ideal Friday night, you're guaran­teed to find something to your liking. The music

scene is hopping, the restaurants are first-rate, and thanks to the full rides provided to in-state students by Georgia's Hope Scholarship, the school is brimming with Southern belles.

#8 UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE

UT Knoxville's powerhouse basketball team plays in the largest on-campus single-sport arena in the U.S., and its outstanding football team clashes in the fourth-largest nonracing stadium in the nation. Plus, this is the only school we know of with its own fraternity boxing tournament—a spring event

that occurs amid a weeklong party and draws students from all over. To top it off, a strip of bars runs through campus. Now that's Southern hospitality.

#9 UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

When you put 56,000 college students 20 minutes from downtown Orlando, you end up with an explosive mix of sun, sand and girls. UCF's campus is well appointed (the dorms are akin to hotels), and though the school's football team is unexceptional, prodigious tailgating makes up for any lack of athletic prowess. UCF students even get a discount on Universal Studios tickets. Sage advice from one student: "Never ride the Hulk drunk." Duly noted.

#10 UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA,

SANTA BARBARA

A difficult school to get into (entering freshmen have an average GPA of 3.98), UCSB counts five Nobel Prize winners on its faculty. It's also perched on prime beachfront property. Every weekend stu­dents swarm to parties on Del Playa Drive, and in the spring there's Floatopia, a drink fest during which students lazily raft along the coast. After Floatopia 2009 drew 12,000 people, authorities put the kibosh on last year's event; however, as of press time, students were investigating a legal loophole in hopes of organizing "Rowtopia 2011."

COOLEST FACE-BOOK CAMPAIGN:

Jay-Z for Commence­ment Speaker 2011, Middlebury College. MOST COVETED DORM ROOM: Suite H33 in Kirkland House, Harvard, where Mark Zuckerberg cre­ated Facebook. BEST LATE-NIGHT EATS:

Capicola-and-cheese sandwich from Primanti Brothers, just off the Pitt campus, with built-in french fries, fried egg and mound of coleslaw. BEST NAKED PARTIES: Yale (seriously). COOLEST COURSE: University of California, Berkeley's "The Sociology of Seinfeld." MOST DELICIOUS MASCOT: (Tie) Delta State's Fighting Okra and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts' Fighting Pickles. BEST COL­LEGE SPORTS FAN: Wild Bill of Utah State. BEST LIBRARY: The Library Cafe and Bar, University of Wisconsin, Madison. BEST OUT-OF-THE-WAY PARTY SCHOOL: Montana State University COOLEST RADIO STA­TION: DePauw's WGRE 91.5. THIRSTIEST MAJOR: University of California, Davis's viticul­ture (grape cultivation) and enology (wine study).

BASKETBALL COACH WE'RE MEASUR­ING FOR A STRAITJACKET: Kansas State's Frank Martin. NEW DRINK ON CAMPUS:

40-proof Adult Chocolate Milk. HOTTEST SORORITY: San Diego State's Alpha Phi. BEST COLLEGE SPORTS BAR: The Swamp Restau rant in Gainesville, Florida. WORST COLLEGE

RAPPER: Chet Haze of Northwestern (Tom Hanks's son-YouTube him). MOST LUCRA­TIVE ONLINE DEGREE: None. WALLET DRAINER: Sarah Lawrence, the most expen­sive college in America ($57,556/year).

HOTTEST STUDENT BODY:

issippi .eerleader