The University of Wisconsin-Madison is now the second-biggest party school in the nation, according to the Princeton Review’s “Best 351 Colleges.”

The “party school” rating is based on survey questions given to 300 students per college concerning the use of alcohol and drugs, hours of study each day, and the popularity of the Greek system. The book also rates different aspects of college life, including best professor, best college town, and beautiful campus.

The party school ranking is one of the review’s lighthearted categories, also including “reefer madness” and “students most nostalgic for Ronald Reagan.”

“Readers get a chuckle, and they’re being informed at the same time,” said Erik Olson, senior editor of “Best 351 Colleges.”

Although the ranking might be funny to some, the UW administration is not laughing.

“I believe Madison has so much to offer other than the party scene,” said Sue Crowley, UW director of Prevention Services. “That’s unfortunate, that the Princeton Review only publicizes the party ranking.”

Crowley questions the validity of the party ranking, and the Princeton Review admits its surveys are not given scientifically.

“We don’t think it’s an accurate perception of what students are doing,” Crowley said.

Crowley said surveys given to UW students to monitor binge-drinking have shown a decrease of 4 percent, from 66 to 62 percent. Crowley also reported a slight decline in the number of students sent to detox.

However, Olson said the surveys project the true college experience.

“We try to fill that gap of student opinions and the student experience,” Olson said. “The purpose of this book is trying to get the real info from the real pros, the current students, to prospective students and their families.”

The only college found to party harder is the University of Colorado-Boulder. This comes after a six-year effort to curtail binge-drinking among students. “We’re serious before and serious after (the rankings came out) about binge-drinking,” Ron Stump, vice chancellor of student affairs at Boulder, said.

UW-Madison also ranks fourth in marijuana use, according to the survey. UW falls behind Skidmore College, Lewis & Clark College, and University of Colorado-Boulder in the category aptly named by the Princeton Review as “reefer madness.”

Crowley admitted that there isn’t much known about marijuana consumption on campus, since it is illegal and therefore hidden.

“All we do know about marijuana is that it is present on campus,” Crowley said.

She went on to say that there are not many numbers to catalog reefer users or problems caused from smoking up.

“What we see on campus is alcohol being the No. 1 drug of choice, and marijuana a distant second,” Crowley said.

Madison was also ranked the 17th greatest college town in the nation. The Madison mayor’s office responded to the rankings positively.

“We like having a town where we can have a good time,” Madison city mayor Dave Cieslewicz said. “The No. 17 ranking is clearly what we need to be working on.”

Cieslewicz’s aide Melanie Conklin joked that there was clearly something wrong with that ranking and Mayor Cieslewicz wants a recount.

Other rankings for UW are No. 1 in prevalence of beer and hard liquor and No. 20 in the popularity of both college sports and the Greek system.