Add The California Post on Google The University of California, Santa Barbara has fallen from its spot as America’s top party school.
Just months after claiming the No. 1 spot on Niche’s 2026 rankings, UCSB has been dethroned and is nowhere near top 25 party schools in 2027 rankings –– a sharp drop following high-profile sexual assaults, violent incidents and escalating concerns over student safety on campus.
Earliet this month, 24-year-old Arian Eteghaei was sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison by Judge Von Deroian for sexually assaulting multiple women while he was a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Jurors found him guilty of forcible rape, forcible sexual penetration and misdemeanor domestic violence.
In June, UC Santa Barbara police were hunting for a man who groped a pedestrian in a frightening midmorning sex attack. The June 24 incident happened in broad daylight at around 11:30 a.m. when the victim was walking on the access road.
The suspect passed by on a bicycle wearing shorts and a tank top, before returning a third time to strike the strolling pedestrian on the buttocks from behind.
Weeks before the groping horror, an alleged rape was reported on the university campus sending shock waves to the entire academic community.
On May 10, university students had received an alert about a “rape and strangulation” on campus property around 10 p.m., UCSB’s campus newspaper the Daily Nexus had reported at the time.
The alleged suspect, who was not identified, and the victim had met at a party in Isla Vista, the nearby college town, and did not know each other prior to the incident.
The controversies sparked candlelight vigils, safety campaigns and heightened scrutiny over how university officials handle campus security.
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Niche, the education research platform, analyzed over 600 schools nationwide on different factors including access to bars, Greek life and access to restaurants to determine the top party school for 2027
Florida State University in Tallahassee clinched the top spot in 2027 rankings followed by New Orleans’ Tulane University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
