The renowned American author Brandon Mull once wrote, “Being smart can make happiness elusive. Being really smart can help you find it in more places than most.”
Even though the truth of this statement depends on the person, we at Impactful.news like to think that happiness can be found by making good choices and having a good attitude.
As far as college goes, we’ve hypothesized that, in general, students of conservative schools tend to be happier than those attending the nation’s top party schools.
To put this theory to the test, we’ve researched data on the happiest colleges in the U.S., campuses with the best student life, and the top party schools.
Looking at the collected data, we found the most measurable factors in student happiness to be 1) ease of workloads, 2) lecture quality, and 3) undergraduate student population
Weighing all these factors, we ranked the top 40 schools from among these four lists based on percentages of post-graduation employment. Of course, these are only the measurable aspects contributing to student satisfaction.
At the end of the day, happiness is better measured on an individual level.
Results
Comparing averages side by side, we found that conservative schools score significantly higher for lecture quality and 1% higher for workload easiness.
With smaller student bodies, conservative schools generally promote tighter-knit student communities.
Both conservative and party schools report a 94% post-graduation employment rate.
| Conservative Averages | Party Averages | |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture Quality | 86% | 80% |
| Workload Easiness | 54% | 53% |
| Undergraduate Enrollment | 9,694 | 23,826 |
| Tuition | $28,939 | $19,852 |
Conservative Schools
Southern Methodist University
- Lecture quality: 89%
- Workload easiness: 62%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 6,616
- Tuition: $41,444
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.61-3.95
Kansas State University
- Lecture quality: 87%
- Workload easiness: 69%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 14,497
- Tuition: $18,494
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.6
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
- Lecture quality: 85%
- Workload easiness: 38%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 29,851
- Tuition: $17,832
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.9-4.0
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Lecture quality: 82%
- Workload easiness: 34%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 4,234
- Tuition: $19,998
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.62
Clemson University
- Lecture quality: 81%
- Workload easiness: 50%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 20,021
- Tuition: $22,935
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 4.18
Texas A&M University
- Lecture quality: 80%
- Workload easiness: 48%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 49,442
- Tuition: $19,906
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.71
Texas Christian University
- Lecture quality: 79%
- Workload easiness: 45%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 9,448
- Tuition: $40,220
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.56
Auburn University
- Lecture quality: 77%
- Workload easiness: 52%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 22,458
- Tuition: $24,028
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.75-4.0
Auburn University made Princeton’s Happiest Schools and Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life.
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
- Lecture quality: 88%
- Workload easiness: 40%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 2,058
- Tuition: $43,606
- Student life: A
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.75-4.0
Loyola Marymount University
- Lecture quality: 86%
- Workload easiness: 59%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 6,386
- Tuition: $48,758
- Student life: A
- Average first-year student GPA: 4.0
Hampden-Sydney College
- Lecture quality: 100%
- Workload easiness: 57%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 876
- Tuition: $33,331
- Student life: A-
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.52
Samford University
- Lecture quality: 94%
- Workload easiness: 61%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 3,102
- Tuition: $31,322
- Student life: A-
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.0-4.0
Cedarville University
- Lecture quality: 89%
- Workload easiness: 60%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 3,540
- Tuition: $24,965
- Student life: A-
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.9
University of Richmond
- Lecture quality: 86%
- Workload easiness: 50%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 3,028
- Tuition: $25,700
- Student life: A-
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.8-4.0
Elon University
- Lecture quality: 93%
- Workload easiness: 68%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 6,073
- Tuition: $39,401
- Student life: B+
- Average first-year student GPA: 4.08
Abilene Christian University
- Lecture quality: 90%
- Workload easiness: 61%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 3,297
- Tuition: $28,725
- Student life: B+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.65
William & Mary
- Lecture quality: 90%
- Workload easiness: 42%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 6,475
- Tuition: $18,588
- Student life: B+
- Average first-year student GPA: 4.1-4.5
Harding University
- Lecture quality: 89%
- Workload easiness: 62%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 3,294
- Tuition: $19,454
- Student life: B+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.64
Marist College
- Lecture quality: 80%
- Workload easiness: 65%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 4,947
- Tuition: $38,797
- Student life: B+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.3-4.0
George Fox University
- Lecture quality: 88%
- Workload easiness: 55%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 2,265
- Tuition: $29,589
- Student life: B
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.6
North Greenville University
- Lecture quality: 74%
- Workload easiness: 63%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 1,658
- Tuition: $20,627
- Student life: B
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.8
Party Schools
University of Dayton
- Lecture quality: 89%
- Workload easiness: 70%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 8,285
- Tuition: $32,768
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.58-3.77
The University of Alabama
- Lecture quality: 84%
- Workload easiness: 63%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 27,750
- Tuition: $20,518
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.71
The University of Alabama made Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life and Top Party Schools.
University of Virginia
- Lecture quality: 84%
- Workload easiness: 42%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 16,319
- Tuition: $19,043
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.94
The University of Virginia made Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life and Top Party Schools.
James Madison University
- Lecture quality: 83%
- Workload easiness: 61%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 18,673
- Tuition: $18,592
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.28-3.52
Penn State
- Lecture quality: 83%
- Workload easiness: 55%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 39,321
- Tuition: $26,151
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.58
Penn State made Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life and Top Party Schools.
Virginia Tech
- Lecture quality: 83%
- Workload easiness: 53%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 29,112
- Tuition: $20,247
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.98
Virginia Tech made Princeton’s Happiest Schools and Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life.
University of Wisconsin
- Lecture quality: 82%
- Workload easiness: 46%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 30,063
- Tuition: $14,030
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.69
University of Texas – Austin
- Lecture quality: 82%
- Workload easiness: 42%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 37,404
- Tuition: $16,892
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.48
Florida State University
- Lecture quality: 81%
- Workload easiness: 61%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 29,072
- Tuition: $12,815
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 4.3-4.6
Florida State University made Princeton’s Happiest Schools, as well as Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life and Top Party Schools.
Syracuse University
- Lecture quality: 81%
- Workload easiness: 55%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 13,832
- Tuition: $47,177
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.69
West Virginia University
- Lecture quality: 80%
- Workload easiness: 59%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 18,726
- Tuition: $13,087
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.8
Vanderbilt University
- Lecture quality: 80%
- Workload easiness: 28%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 6,983
- Tuition: $25,804
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.86
Vanderbilt University made Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life and Happiest Schools.
Michigan State University
- Lecture quality: 79%
- Workload easiness: 60%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 34,588
- Tuition: $16,655
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.5-4.0
Indiana University – Bloomington
- Lecture quality: 78%
- Workload easiness: 54%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 31,632
- Tuition: $13,191
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.62-4.0
Indiana University – Bloomington made Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life and Top Party Schools.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Lecture quality: 77%
- Workload easiness: 49%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 32,107
- Tuition: $13,517
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.58-3.95
The Ohio State University
- Lecture quality: 76%
- Workload easiness: 58%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 18,564
- Tuition: $18,884
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.81
Ohio State University made Niche.com’s Colleges with the Best Student Life and Top Party Schools.
University of Iowa
- Lecture quality: 76%
- Workload easiness: 52%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 20,227
- Tuition: $17,452
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.79
Rutgers University – New Brunswick
- Lecture quality: 75%
- Workload easiness: 41%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 33,788
- Tuition: $17,835
- Student life: A+
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.6-4.0
Florida A&M University
- Lecture quality: 70%
- Workload easiness: 55%
- Undergraduate enrollment: 6,244
- Tuition: $12,903
- Student life: A
- Average first-year student GPA: 3.63
