Penn St. takes top party school title

? Penn State University is now the nation’s No. 1 party school.

The school known partly for its football tailgate weekends and fraternity and sorority scene snatched the title away from the University of Florida in the 2009 Princeton Review survey of 122,000 students nationwide. Florida, last year’s winner, finished second in the annual survey released Monday.

Kansas University and other universities in the state didn’t make the list.

It’s the first time Penn State has finished first in the dubious category. The school has been on the list the last seven years and ranked third in 2008. The listing covers Penn State’s main University Park campus in State College.

“These rankings are not more than popularity contests,” said university spokeswoman Annemarie Mountz. She noted that groups on the social networking site Facebook have urged members to make Penn State the top party school.

“It’s a badge of honor at this point. Nationwide, kids want to pump their schools in these surveys,” Mountz said. “It’s not connected to reality.”