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This New York university ranks in top 10 US party schools for 2026

By and Stephanie Weaver
Published  August 26, 2025 8:06am EDT
Lifestyle
FOX Local
Student accepted into 115 colleges and universities

Student accepted into 115 colleges and universities

A senior in New Orleans has been accepted into 115 colleges and universities and offered nearly $3.8 million in scholarships.

The Brief

    • UC Santa Barbara was ranked the No. 1 party school in the U.S. for 2026, holding onto its top spot from last year, per Niche's new report.
    • Rankings were based on student surveys, access to bars, restaurants, athletics and Greek life at each school.
    • Syracuse University in Central New York ranked No. 7 on the list. 

NEW YORK - If you’re looking to attend a college for its fun and entertainment, you may want to consider one of these schools. 

The company Niche ranked the top party schools in the U.S. for 2026 by conducting a survey and analyzing other factors. In the survey, respondents were asked to rank the quality of the party scene at each school. Other factors that were analyzed included the school’s access to bars and restaurants, along with its athletics and Greek life.

University of California, Santa Barbara ranked No. 1 party school

By the numbers:

According to the findings, the University of California, Santa Barbara, was ranked the top party school in the nation. Last year, the school also ranked first. 

This was followed by Florida State University and Tulane University. 

Syracuse makes the top 10

Syracuse University ranked No.7 for "Top Party Schools in America" and also ranked No. 8 for "Best Greek Life Colleges in America," according to statistics from Niche. Syracuse was given a score of "A+" for its party scene. 

The four-year university has about 15,000 total undergrad students. 

Top party schools in the US: Data

  1. University of California, Santa Barbara
  2. Florida State University
  3. Tulane University
  4. University of Southern California
  5. University of Wisconsin-Madison
  6. University of Alabama
  7. Syracuse University
  8. University of Georgia
  9. Howard University
  10. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

See the full report here

Best colleges in 2025

Dig deeper:

Last year, WalletHub recently released its 2025 rankings of the best US colleges and universities. The study analyzed over 800 higher education institutions across 30 different metrics, including student selectivity, cost, faculty resources and career outcomes.

RELATED: Here are the best colleges in the US for 2025

Top universities like Princeton, Yale, and Harvard continued to dominate, while smaller colleges like Swarthmore and Hamilton also made their mark.

The Source: The information for this story was provided by Niche’s new 2026 report, along with previous FOX Local reporting. This story was reported from Los Angeles.

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