Princeton Review ranks Hawkeyes the No. 1 party school (Wikimedia Commons)

The University of Southern California has been under scrutiny for the recent spate of alcohol-related incidents, but as the Princeton Review shows in its 2013-2014 rankings of the nation’s top party schools, USC is far from alone in dealing with binge-drinking.

School administrators across the country are not popping bottles at the news their school made the list, as many tried to cut back on alcohol-related incidents that have been on the rise.

University of Iowa: The Hawkeyes swoop in at number one on the list, even though the school has worked to change the culture of heavy drinking. Three years ago, an ordinance raised the age to enter bars from 19 to 21. The university also started the “Red Watch Band,” a program that teaches students to handle alcohol related emergencies, since the number of emergency calls put a strain on tocal ambulances. A university spokesman said that the percentage of students who consume five or more drinks at once has dropped from 70 percent in 2009 to about 59 percent in 2013, according to data from the National College Health Assessment. But despite this claim, the school also bested Santa Barbara as number one on,  “Lots of Hard Liquor.”

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University of California, Santa Barbara: The Southern California campus has the ideal location for beachside partying. Last spring, over 15,000 people attended Deltopia, an annual bash in Isla Vista, a community housing mostly UCSB students. After the last celebration, a female student at California Polytechnic University was found dead on the beach. The administration plans to expand university-owned housing to decrease the popularity of the unregulated, off-campus housing.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Students can be 19-years-old to enter bars in Champaign and 18 in Urbana. The school is famous for its Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day bacchanal, known as “Unofficial” to students. Last year, law enforcement launched a social media campaign to educate partygoers on the dangers of excessive drinking. The number of alcohol-related citations dropped by 100 compared to lastyear, even though emergency medical calls remained about the same. 

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 West Virginia University: Mountaineers can enjoy free beer at some of the local bars every Thursday night. In 2012, Morgantown’s mayor proposed a $20 tuition fee to pay the city police and firefighters, following a series of street fires set after a football win. In 2011, the student body president started a program to encourage responsible drinking, but stepped down after she was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.

Syracuse University: Last year, the university reduced the penalty for hospitalization for binge drinking. Students faced probation, but now are only reprimanded for a first-time offense. The school expressed concern that the harsher punishment would discourage students from getting medical help. As of now, the party is still rocking as Big Orange coasts in at number five. 

USC did not even rank on Princeton Review's  2014 list of Top 20 Party Schools, even though it carries a solid reputation as a "party school." The fact is that binge drinking in college is a national issue. The U.S. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says about 4 out of 5 students drink alcohol and half of college students who drink, binge drink.

"There's a whole culture that needs to be changed around drinking and driving under the influence among young people in the United States," said Ralph Hingson, a lead researcher at the institute's division of epidemiology and prevention research.

USC's increasing number of alcohol-related incidents and hospitalizations fall into the national average, which might be more disconcerting than reassuring.

Reach Staff Reporter Anne Artley here