Some college rankings rankle

CU trades party for pot rep; cadets prove cleanest cut

Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 21, 2007 at midnight

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The University of Colorado's reputation as a party school has gone up in smoke.

Once ranked the nation's No. 1 party school, CU-Boulder failed for the third year to earn a spot on the Princeton Review's annual list of top party schools. With the exception of one year, the campus made the Top 10 list of party schools from 1997 to 2004.

The school, however, made its first appearance in two years in the "reefer madness" category, ranking 15th for marijuana usage.

CU officials don't put much stock in the rankings, which are based on responses from 120,000 students at 366 colleges and universities nationwide. The Princeton Review, an educational preparation company, publishes an annual guide to colleges, among other publications.

"The pot ranking is one of those things where you have to ask how much is based on reality and how much is based on reputation," said CU-Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard.

Hilliard pointed to the school's annual pro-pot rally, which he said seems to attract a large number of nonstudents from the Front Range.

Cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, in contrast, fall into the review's straight-and-narrow category.

The academy earned top rankings in such categories as low marijuana usage and low hard alcohol consumption.

"We don't have much of a problem with drugs," said academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker. "Our alcohol policy is pretty strict, too."

The academy also was rated No. 1 for the accessibility of its professors, 19th for most religious students and 11th for "students most nostalgic for Ronald Reagan."

Fellow Colorado Springs institution Colorado College came in fifth for strained relations with the town; 10th for intramural sports participation and 16th for encouraging class discussions.

Colorado State University, meanwhile, was ranked eighth in the category of having fewer class discussions - something administrators hope to address.

"I don't know if it's a number of freshman coming in and finding themselves in large classes or just chance. But I want to try to figure it out and respond to it," said Mike Palmquist, director of the school's institute of living and teaching.

How Colorado colleges and universities rank

AIR FORCE ACADEMY

Rank Category

1 Don't inhale (marijuana usage reported low)

1 Professors make themselves available

7 Stone-cold sober school

9 Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution

11 Is it food? (campus food gets low ratings)

11 Students most nostalgic for Ronald Reagan

14 Everyone plays intramural sports

16 Scotch & soda, hold the scotch

19 Students pray on a regular basis

COLORADO COLLEGE

Rank Category

5 Town-gown relations are strained

10 Everyone plays intramural sports

16 Class discussions are encouraged

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO

Rank Category

15 Reefer madness (marijuana usage reported high)

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

Rank Category

8 Class discussions are rare*University Of Denver Was Profiled But Not Listed In Any Top 20 Rankings.

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