For the 11th straight year, BYU topped the Princeton Review's list of stone-cold sober universities in the United States. The LDS-Church owned university also garnered top-20 rankings in best college library, No. 6; best quality of life, No. 16; most politically conservative student body, No. 8; and most religious students, No. 1.
The rankings are the result of surveys completed by 120,000 students from 368 universities. The Princeton Review asked each student to rate his or her university in dozens of categories, ranging from political orientation to drug and alcohol use. The review's author Robert Franek hopes the rankings will help prospective college students find the university that best fits their needs.
"In our opinion, each school in this book [The Princeton Review] is first-rate academically, but their campus cultures and offerings differ greatly," Franek said in a news release. "We believe college applicants need to know far more about schools than an academic ranking to identify which colleges may be best for them. It's all about the fit."
Ryan Hillary, an 18-year-old from Sandy who will attend BYU this fall, said the university's standards were a big reason he decided BYU was a perfect fit for his educational and career goals.
"I was trying to find a place where I could feel comfortable and just learn without the pressure of people drinking and partying all the time," Hillary said. "It's important to be around people that share my values."
The stone-cold sober ranking is a combination of questions concerning drug and alcohol use, hours spent studying and the popularity of fraternities and sororities. BYU also ranked first in the "got milk" category, which measures students' perceptions of beer consumption among their peers.
Krysten Clark, a sophomore majoring in early childhood education, said she's proud of BYU's high rankings in low drug and alcohol use.
"I think it shows something about the values and morals at our university," she said. "But it's kind of weird we're only third in 'don't inhale.'"
The 'don't inhale' category rates schools based on students' answers to the question, "how widely used is marijuana?" The only schools ahead of BYU are the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
In addition to student ratings, The Princeton Review also collects statistics from each university on its academic standards, faculty and student body. Anyone lured to Provo by rumors of a two to one girl-boy ratio may be disappointed. The review reports BYU's student body is just 49.18 percent female.
Infobox: BYU rankings in the Princeton Review:
BYU Rankings
- No. 1 - Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution
- No. 1 - Got Milk?
- No. 1 - Scotch and Soda, hold the Scotch
- No. 1 - Stone-cold Sober Schools
- No. 1 - Most Religious Students
- No. 3 - Don't Inhale
- No. 8 - Most Conservative Students
- No. 10 - Town-gown relations are Great
- No. 16 - Best Quality of Life
- No. 16 - Happiest Students
- No. 17 - School Runs like Butter
- No. 18 - Everyone Plays Intramural Sports
Copyright Brigham Young University 4 Aug 2008
