The University of Iowa was ranked ninth in the top 10 list of party schools in the nation. So why didn’t Iowa State make the cut?

“I used to go to Iowa and the atmosphere is very different there,” said Alexandra Peden, senior in accounting. “It’s not the same environment; there are so many other things to do here.”

Iowa State offers Student Union Board and ISU After Dark. Mike Taylor, Maintenance Shop director for the Student Union Board and senior in pre-business, said part of the purpose of these organizations is to get students more involved on campus.

“Students can socialize without having to do drugs or alcohol,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the age limit at Iowa City bars in the past could have been a contributing factor to the university’s ranking.

But a law was passed this spring, changing the age limit of the bars to 21 and up. After a petition garnered enough signatures to force the council to repeal the law or send it out to voters, the issue was placed on the Nov. 2 ballot.

The Princeton Review released “The Best 373 Colleges: 2011 Edition” Aug. 3, with 62 categories ranking colleges across the nation, taken from information from a survey of 122,000 students across the nation.

“Each of our 373 best colleges offers great academics and we salute them for that,” said Robert Franek, author of the book and Princeton Review senior vice president/publisher in a news release. 

“However, they differ widely in their program offerings and campus culture. That’s why we don’t rank them 1-373. Instead we tally 62 ranking lists based entirely on how students at these schools rated their experiences at them: we also compile eight rating scores for each school based on our institutional research. For applicants, it’s all about finding your best fit college.”