KU earns spot on Princeton Review’s 2018 list of best colleges; makes rankings for party atmosphere, school spirit

Kansas University senior Bryce Kellerman, Kansas City, Kan., and Michael Jolley, Overland Park senior, go crazy for an ESPN camera prior to tipoff against Missouri on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Princeton Review released its annual Best 382 Colleges list earlier this week, and the University of Kansas has once again made the cut.

The results, which derive from a survey of more than 137,000 college students nationwide, may or may not give KU leaders cause to celebrate. In addition to landing on the Best 382 Colleges list, KU was also named one of 158 “Best Midwestern” universities as well as one of 361 “Green Colleges” across the country.

Those lists do not rank schools, however, and only list colleges in alphabetical order. The state’s flagship university did show up on several ranked lists, earning No. 13 for “Lots of Greek Life,” No. 13 for “Lots of Hard Liquor,” No. 19 for “Party Schools” and No. 12 for “Students Pack the Stadiums.”

KU’s in-state rival, Kansas State University, did comparatively well in the 2018 rankings, landing at No. 1 for “Town-Gown Relations are Great,” No. 2 for “Best Athletic Facilities,” No. 3 for “Best Quality of Life,” No. 3 for “Students Pack the Stadiums,” No. 6 for “Their Students Love These Colleges,” No. 6 for “Happiest Students,” No. 6 for “Best Health Services” and No. 7 for “Best-Run Colleges.”

K-State also earned top-20 spots in the “Best Career Services” and “Best College Dorms” categories, coming in at No. 16 and No. 19, respectively. The rankings paint K-State as a largely conservative school where students seemingly opt for sports over studying, landing at No. 8 for “Everyone Plays Intramural Sports,” No. 12 for “Students Study the Least,” No. 17 for “Future Rotarians and DAR,” No. 17 for “Most Religious Students” and No. 18 for “Most Conservative Students.”

The state’s other universities didn’t make Princeton Review’s list this year. See how other schools across the country did at www.princetonreview.com.