(STACKER) – Many schools tout their high average GPAs, beautiful campuses, or competitive admission rates. However, few can boast a rich campus social life as a truly distinguishing feature. While academic rigor is arguably one of the most important facets of college life, four years of all work and no play can take a tremendous toll on some students. In fact, taking regular breaks from work has been shown to boost productivity—within good reason, of course.

Colleges and universities across America faced many changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant impacts on students’ social lives. According to a June 2021 report from the National Center for Education Statistics, an astounding 84% of undergraduates had some, if not all, of their courses shifted to remote learning in the spring of 2020. When students returned to campus for in-person instruction, social distancing and quarantines continued to affect the typical collegiate social scene. But now that pandemic-related restrictions have largely eased, students are ready to party again.

Using data released by Niche in December 2022, Stacker compiled a list revealing the colleges and universities with the best party scene in each state and Washington D.C. Factors in this 2023 ranking are access to nightlife, athletic culture, and Greek life, as well as student polling data. For each school, Stacker also included the national party scene rank, location, acceptance rate, and net price (average annual cost for a student to attend, after financial aid). States are listed in alphabetical order.

  • Alabama: The University of Alabama
  • Alaska: University of Alaska Southeast
  • Arizona: University of Arizona
  • Arkansas: University of Arkansas
  • California: University of California – Santa Barbara
  • Colorado: University of Colorado – Boulder
  • Connecticut: Yale University
  • Delaware: University of Delaware
  • Florida: Florida State University
  • Georgia: University of Georgia
  • Hawaii: University of Hawaii at Manoa
  • Idaho: University of Idaho
  • Illinois: University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
  • Indiana: Indiana University – Bloomington
  • Iowa: University of Iowa
  • Kansas: University of Kansas
  • Kentucky: University of Kentucky
  • Louisiana: Tulane University
  • Maine: University of Maine
  • Maryland: Morgan State University
  • Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts – Amherst
  • Michigan: Michigan State University
  • Minnesota: University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
  • Mississippi: University of Mississippi
  • Missouri: University of Missouri
  • Montana: Montana State University
  • Nebraska: University of Nebraska – Lincoln
  • Nevada: University of Nevada – Reno
  • New Hampshire: University of New Hampshire
  • New Jersey: Rutgers University–New Brunswick
  • New Mexico: New Mexico State University
  • New York: Syracuse University
  • North Carolina: North Carolina A&T State University
  • North Dakota: University of North Dakota
  • Ohio: Ohio University
  • Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma
  • Oregon: University of Oregon
  • Pennsylvania: Penn State
  • Rhode Island: Providence College
  • South Carolina: University of South Carolina
  • South Dakota: University of South Dakota
  • Tennessee: Vanderbilt University
  • Texas: University of Texas – Austin
  • Utah: University of Utah
  • Vermont: University of Vermont
  • Virginia: University of Virginia
  • Washington D.C.: Howard University
  • Washington: Washington State University
  • West Virginia: West Virginia University
  • Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin – Madison
  • Wyoming: University of Wyoming