Phone-book thick, "The Princeton Review Guide: The Best 357 Colleges," goes on sale today and includes a two-page profile on what the editors consider the top 15 percent of colleges and universities in the United States.

The lists, which include top party school — this year it's the State University of New York at Albany (who knew?) — and least happy students — New Jersey Institute of Technology — are based on student reports from what the guide considers the nation's top 357 colleges and universities.

The editors conduct on-campus surveys at each school at least once every three years and allow students to fill out online surveys all the time, so the information stays fresh.

The profiles, which run alphabetically, include student narratives.

"Students are the real college experts," Olson said. "These are the people prospective college students would talk to. It's great to talk to parents, but they attended college 20 years ago. A lot changes pretty quickly in the culture, class offerings, admission standards and financial packages at all colleges and universities."

BYU finished first on four lists last year. This year's seven firsts swamped the field — only SUNY-Albany and Eugene Lang College in New York finished first on as many as three lists.

Some of the lists are similar, and several of them are compiled to determine who's stone-cold sober.

"That's the lifestyle at BYU, even though it's a tongue-in-cheek way we list it," the Review's Olson said. "Students are answering the way the Mormon Church would like them to answer, and both the students and the church are proud of it."

The library's Olsen is aware that some campus libraries have added coffee shops and joked that a "Starbooks" isn't on the horizon at BYU, where caffeine isn't available even in soda pop form.

"We're elated to be in such esteemed company," he said of the rankings, "but what's more important is that the students value the library."

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