It's important to remember that back-to-school time is not just for little kids. Learning is a lifelong activity, and legal-drinking-age college students need help expanding their minds as well. Does your rising senior only know beer pong as a game played in a dingy rec room, on a ratty ping pong table, using skunky beer? There's so much more out there! Presented here is the bleeding edge of beer pong innovation, along with schools that would most benefit from having their curriculum updated.

Pongbot

All hail our new benevolent drinking game overlord! Load the five-cup holders with your favorite brew, flip the switch, and watch Pongbot go. This little drinking buddy keeps the game interesting by meandering around the table, randomly darting in different directions, and twirling like Maria in an alpine meadow. Don't worry about spills—Pongbot can sense and avoid table edges so it can be used on surfaces of any size or shape. Of course you can get the same basic gameplay by attaching a cup holder to your Roomba as well.

Accepted at: MIT

Waitlisted: Bending State University

Prosecco Pong

Ok, admittedly this isn't a radical departure from the original, but sometimes small iterations are all you need to break new ground. Imagine beer pong, but instead of the iconic red Solo cup you use a plastic champagne coupe. Now imagine inside that coupe is prosecco instead of beer. Finally, rather than the standard issue white ping pong ball, imagine you're tossing a pink ping pong ball. That, my friend, is Prosecco Pong!

Accepted at: Harvard Law School (pledged Delta Nu)

Waitlisted: Fancy Lad School

Golf Pong

Work on your short game away from the chipping green, and work on your drinking game away from the nineteenth hole. In golf pong, players loft plastic golf balls from their chipping mat towards their opponents' cups. This can be a long game if neither player is very good with the wedge.

Accepted at: Augusta University

Waitlisted: The Shooter McGavin Academy

Mountain Pong

Bringing beer pong into a whole other dimension, a Mountain Pong set consists of two multi-level cup stands. These stands both act as sturdy bases that prevent spills from over-enthusiastic throws and allow for new game variations. Play "Climb the Mountain", "North Face Gamble", or "The Lonely Goatherd" (I made up the last two, but I'm pretty sure we can all come up with good rules for them).

Accepted at: Rocky Mountain College

Waitlisted: Yodeling Walter School of Music

Pool Lounge Pong

It's an inflatable pool raft, it's a floating beer pong table, it's GoPong! This blow-up pool party game comes with the requisite pyramids of cup holders at either end and eight spectator cup holders along the edges. Play a casual match in the shallow end or go by water polo rules where contestants are not allowed to stand or touch the sides of the pool.

Accepted at: Atlantis University

Waitlisted: Mr. Ray's School

Quidditch Pong

The rules for Quidditch Pong are just as arcane and inexplicable as the ones for the wizarding game you came to love in Harry Potter (a good summary can be found here). Put on your dueling robes, pour out some butterbeer, and beware the bludgers!

Accepted at: Middlebury College (where intramural Quidditch was invented)

Waitlisted: Ilvermorny