The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) has been unseated as the nation's top party school, dropping out of the top 25 in the latest rankings from Niche. This decline follows a series of high-profile incidents on campus, including sexual assaults and violent occurrences, which have raised significant concerns about student safety.
Earlier this month, Arian Eteghaei, 24, was sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison for multiple sexual assaults committed while he was a student at UCSB. A jury found him guilty of forcible rape, forcible sexual penetration, and misdemeanor domestic violence. In June, UCSB police searched for a man who groped a pedestrian in a daylight attack. The incident occurred on the access road around 11:30 a.m. when the suspect, riding a bicycle, approached the pedestrian and groped them.
Weeks prior to the groping incident, a reported rape on campus sent shockwaves through the academic community. On May 10, students received an alert about a "rape and strangulation" that occurred on campus property around 10 p.m. The alleged suspect and victim had met at a party in Isla Vista, the nearby college town, and did not know each other beforehand.
These controversies have prompted candlelight vigils, safety campaigns, and increased scrutiny of how university officials manage campus security. The incidents have contributed to UCSB's sharp drop in the rankings.
Florida State University in Tallahassee has claimed the top spot in Niche's 2027 party school rankings, followed by Tulane University in New Orleans and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Niche, an education research platform, analyzed over 600 schools nationwide, considering factors such as access to bars, Greek life, and nearby restaurants to determine the rankings.