The impact of being named the top party school on peer rankings and the academic profile of a university

We explore how being named the top party school by the Princeton Review affects the U.S. News and World Report peer rankings as well as the academic profile of a university. We find that being named the top party school lowers peer rankings, freshman retention, and the academic quality of incoming students at a university. However, we also find that being named a top party school has no effect on an institution’s acceptance rate. These results suggest that the publicity of being named the top party school in the nation enhances a school’s undesirable reputation as measured by peer ranking, and also negatively influences student enrollment decisions, particularly among top academic performing students. Key Words: Higher Education, Academic Ranking, Party School