See the 2025 top party schools in America, according to Niche
(NEXSTAR) – For the "work hard, play hard" students out there, this one is for you.
Education research and ranking site Niche has released its round up of the top party schools in the United States for 2025, and for the third straight year, the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) takes the top spot.
Using a database of over 500,000 student reviews of U.S. colleges, Niche's data scientists assigned scores based on the following factors: student surveys, access to bars, athletics grade, Greek life grade and access to restaurants.
Reviews from a number of current and former students mentioned UCSB's "stunning" campus – which is nestled between the beach and the Santa Ynez mountains – as well as the diverse and social student body, but also addressed the school's reputation for partying.
"It is literally heaven on Earth for an 18-21 year old as long as you don't overdo it," wrote a UCSB junior student in late July. "You need to prioritize school over partying because the academic load is quite rigorous."
An unsanctioned, annual beachfront event dubbed "Deltopia" has become infamous in recent years, with the 2023 street party resulting in 151 citations, 23 arrests and a flood of medical emergency calls.
In second place among the nation's top party schools is the University of Oklahoma, according to Niche, where the social scene is closely tied to the Sooners' athletic programs. In an unofficial poll, more than half of OU students (57%) said the biggest social event of the year was "every gameday," with 95% of students saying that varsity sports were either a big part of campus life, or that "almost everything on campus revolves around them."
Rounding out the top five are the University of Cincinnati, University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Southern California.
See the list of the top 25 party schools in America, according to Niche:
| University | Metro Area | State |
University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara Area | CA |
University of Oklahoma | Oklahoma City Area | OK |
University of Cincinnati | Cincinnati Area | OH |
University of Massachusetts Amherst | Springfield, MA Area | MA |
University of Southern California | Los Angeles Area | CA |
Syracuse University | Syracuse Area | NY |
Howard University | Washington, D.C. Area | DC |
University of Georgia | Athens Area | GA |
Vanderbilt University | Nashville Area | TN |
The University of Alabama | AL | |
The Ohio State University | Columbus Area | OH |
Florida State University | Tallahassee Area | FL |
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | |
University of Texas - Austin | Austin Area | TX |
West Virginia University | WV | |
University of Minnesota Twin Cities | Minneapolis-St. Paul Area | MN |
University of Florida | FL | |
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | Detroit Area | MI |
San Diego State University | San Diego Area | CA |
Temple University | Philadelphia Area | PA |
University of Wisconsin-Madison | Madison Area | WI |
Tulane University | New Orleans Area | LA |
Southern Methodist University | Dallas-Fort Worth Area | TX |
University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles Area | CA |
Penn State | PA |
Niche's annual college rankings span a variety of topics that include athletics, campus reviews, academic programs, admissions and more.