University of Wisconsin-Madison named top party school in U.S.

MADISON, Wis. -- University of Wisconsin-Madison leaders are chafing under a state-imposed tuition freeze, and the football team didn't crack the Top 25 preseason rankings.

But no school in the country throws a better party, according to the Princeton Review's 2017 edition of "The Best 381 Colleges."

The Princeton Review publishes a book every year ranking colleges in 62 categories. This year's edition is based on an online survey of 143,000 students at colleges selected by an editorial board.

UW-Madison is famous for its parties, especially Halloween and an end-of-year block party. Every home football game is preceded by hours of off-site drinking.

It last was named No. 1 party school in the 2005 survey. Princeton Review senior vice president and publisher Rob Franek said the school has ranked among the Top 20 party schools in 22 of the last 25 years.

"You won't find a more friendly place to be as attendees share brats, offer up beers and join in singing some of our most memorable chants -- all before the game even begins," one unnamed student said in the survey.

West Virginia University in Morgantown came in second, followed by the University of Illinois, which was No. 1 last year. Lehigh University and Bucknell University filled out the top five.

U-W Madison also ranked fourth in friendliness toward transgender, gay and bisexual people.

Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, has the best financial aid. The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has the best campus food, Washington University in St. Louis the best dorms and Penn State University the best athletic facilities.

If you're looking for a picturesque campus, Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, was named most beautiful.

If you want the best teachers, you'll find them at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

West Point is tops in the "Students Study the Most" and "Most Accessible Professors" categories.