The Best Modern College Comedy Movies
by kjtenorman | created - 16 Feb 2016 | updated - 08 Dec 2019 | PublicA chronological list of the best modern college movies from 1990-present.
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1. The Freshman (1990)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Crime
An N.Y.C. film school student accepts a job with a local mobster who resembles a famous cinema godfather and who takes the young man under his wing, after demanding total loyalty.
Director: Andrew Bergman | Stars: Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby, Penelope Ann Miller
Votes: 22,024 | Gross: $21.46M
2. PCU (1994)
PG-13 | 79 min | Comedy
A high school senior visits college for the weekend, and stays at the wildest house on campus.
Director: Hart Bochner | Stars: Jeremy Piven, Chris Young, Megan Ward, Jon Favreau
Votes: 14,490 | Gross: $4.35M
3. With Honors (1994)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama
Convinced his thesis will have him graduate with honors from Harvard University, a stuffy student finds himself at the mercy of a homeless man's demands when he holds the papers hostage.
Director: Alek Keshishian | Stars: Joe Pesci, Brendan Fraser, Moira Kelly, Patrick Dempsey
Votes: 15,896 | Gross: $20.04M
4. Glory Daze (1995)
R | 100 min | Comedy
With college graduation pending, the old gang tries to avoid the inevitability of breaking up and going forward with their lives.
Director: Rich Wilkes | Stars: Ben Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Megan Ward, French Stewart
Votes: 3,749
5. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,067,277 | Gross: $138.43M
6. The Waterboy (1998)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Sport
A waterboy for a college football team discovers he has a unique tackling ability and becomes a member of the team.
Director: Frank Coraci | Stars: Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Henry Winkler, Fairuza Balk
Votes: 178,290 | Gross: $161.49M
7. Dead Man on Campus (1998)
R | 96 min | Comedy
Two college roommates go out and party, resulting in bad grades. They learn of the clause that says, "If your roommate dies, you get an A," and decide to find someone who is on the verge, so to speak, to move in with them.
Director: Alan Cohn | Stars: Tom Everett Scott, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Poppy Montgomery, Lochlyn Munro
Votes: 16,346 | Gross: $15.06M
8. Road Trip (2000)
R | 93 min | Comedy
Four college buddies embark on a road trip to retrieve an illicit tape mistakenly mailed to a female friend.
Director: Todd Phillips | Stars: Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, Amy Smart, Paulo Costanzo
Votes: 178,226 | Gross: $68.54M
9. Boys and Girls (2000)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A friendship is put to the ultimate test when two best friends wind up in bed together.
Director: Robert Iscove | Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Claire Forlani, Brendon Ryan Barrett, Gay Thomas Wilson
Votes: 17,597 | Gross: $20.63M
10. 100 Girls (2000)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
Matt spends the night with a girl in an elevator during power outage in a girls' college dorm. He never sees her. Waking up in the morning, panties are all that's left of her. How does he find her in a building with 100 girls?
Director: Michael Davis | Stars: Jonathan Tucker, Emmanuelle Chriqui, James DeBello, Katherine Heigl
Votes: 23,626
11. Loser (2000)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Romance
A college student, branded a loser by his roommates and booted from the dorm, falls in love with a coed who has eyes for their condescending professor.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari, Zak Orth, Thomas Sadoski
Votes: 30,350 | Gross: $15.62M
12. Down to You (2000)
PG-13 | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
College students Al and Imogen meet and fall in love, but fear of commitment causes them to go their separate ways.
Director: Kris Isacsson | Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Julia Stiles, Selma Blair, Shawn Hatosy
Votes: 15,724 | Gross: $20.04M
13. Wonder Boys (2000)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
An English Professor tries to deal with his wife leaving him, the arrival of his editor who has been waiting for his book for seven years, and the various problems that his friends and associates involve him in.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr.
Votes: 66,586 | Gross: $19.39M
14. American Pie 2 (2001)
R | 108 min | Comedy
Jim and his friends are now in college, and they decide to meet up at the beach house for some fun.
Director: J.B. Rogers | Stars: Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Shannon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan
Votes: 270,058 | Gross: $145.10M
15. How High (2001)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Fantasy
Two guys by the name of Silas and Jamal decided to one day smoke something magical, which eventually helps them to ace their college entrance exam.
Director: Jesse Dylan | Stars: Method Man, Redman, Obba Babatundé, Mike Epps
Votes: 61,762 | Gross: $31.16M
16. Legally Blonde (2001)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Romance
Elle Woods, a fashionable sorority queen, is dumped by her boyfriend. She decides to follow him to law school. While she is there, she figures out that there is more to her than just looks.
Director: Robert Luketic | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis
Votes: 247,966 | Gross: $96.52M
17. Sorority Boys (2002)
R | 93 min | Comedy
Strapped for cash, three fraternity playboys make one last attempt to live the high life - cheaply - by masquerading as girls. But their chauvinistic ways come back to haunt them as they get a crash course in the opposite sex.
Director: Wallace Wolodarsky | Stars: Barry Watson, Harland Williams, Michael Rosenbaum, Melissa Sagemiller
Votes: 16,253 | Gross: $10.20M
18. Pumpkin (2002)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A sorority girl finds her life falling apart after she develops romantic feelings for a mentally-challenged man.
Directors: Anthony Abrams, Adam Larson Broder | Stars: Christina Ricci, Hank Harris, Brenda Blethyn, Dominique Swain
Votes: 9,539 | Gross: $0.31M
19. The Rules of Attraction (2002)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.
Director: Roger Avary | Stars: James Van Der Beek, Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel
Votes: 53,318 | Gross: $6.53M
20. Drumline (2002)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A band director recruits a Harlem street drummer to play at a Southern university.
Director: Charles Stone III | Stars: Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones, Leonard Roberts
Votes: 36,040 | Gross: $56.40M
21. Orange County (2002)
PG-13 | 82 min | Comedy, Drama
A guidance counselor mistakenly sends out the wrong transcripts to Stanford University under the name of an over-achieving high schooler.
Director: Jake Kasdan | Stars: Colin Hanks, Jack Black, Schuyler Fisk, Bret Harrison
Votes: 51,928 | Gross: $41.03M
22. National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Romance
The most popular kid on campus meets a beautiful journalist who makes him realize that maybe he's afraid to graduate.
Director: Walt Becker | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Tara Reid, Tim Matheson, Kal Penn
Votes: 115,305 | Gross: $21.01M
23. Old School (2003)
R | 88 min | Comedy
Three friends attempt to recapture their glory days by opening up a fraternity near their alma mater.
Director: Todd Phillips | Stars: Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Jeremy Piven
Votes: 243,286 | Gross: $75.59M
24. Accepted (2006)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy
A high school slacker who's rejected by every school he applies to opts to create his own institution of higher learning, the South Harmon Institute of Technology, on a rundown piece of property near his hometown.
Director: Steve Pink | Stars: Justin Long, Jonah Hill, Blake Lively, Adam Herschman
Votes: 139,984 | Gross: $36.32M
25. Starter for 10 (2006)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Set in 1985, working-class student Brian Jackson (McAvoy) navigates his first year at Bristol University.
Director: Tom Vaughan | Stars: James McAvoy, Alice Eve, Rebecca Hall, Joseph Friend
Votes: 25,072 | Gross: $0.21M
26. Sydney White (2007)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A modern retelling of Snow White set against students in their freshman year of college in the greek system.
Director: Joe Nussbaum | Stars: Amanda Bynes, Sara Paxton, Matt Long, Jack Carpenter
Votes: 51,251 | Gross: $11.89M
27. The House Bunny (2008)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
After Playboy bunny Shelley is kicked out of the Playboy Mansion, she finds a job as the house mother for a sorority full of socially awkward girls.
Director: Fred Wolf | Stars: Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, Emma Stone, Kat Dennings
Votes: 90,285 | Gross: $48.24M
28. Smart People (2008)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Into the life of a widowed professor comes a new love and an unexpected visit from his adopted brother.
Director: Noam Murro | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elliot Page
Votes: 23,483 | Gross: $9.50M
29. Pitch Perfect (2012)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
Director: Jason Moore | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp
Votes: 330,598 | Gross: $65.00M
30. Spring Breakers (2012)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Four college girls hold up a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation. While partying, drinking, and taking drugs, they are arrested, only to be bailed out by a drug and arms dealer.
Director: Harmony Korine | Stars: Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine
Votes: 148,741 | Gross: $14.12M
31. Liberal Arts (2012)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When 30-something Jesse returns to his alma mater for a professor's retirement party, he falls for Zibby, a college student, and is faced with a powerful attraction that springs up between them.
Director: Josh Radnor | Stars: Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Zac Efron, Elizabeth Reaser
Votes: 40,278 | Gross: $0.32M
32. Monsters University (2013)
G | 104 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A look at the relationship between Mike Wazowski and James P. "Sully" Sullivan during their days at Monsters University, when they weren't necessarily the best of friends.
Director: Dan Scanlon | Stars: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren
Votes: 389,817 | Gross: $268.49M
33. Neighbors (I) (2014)
R | 97 min | Comedy
After they are forced to live next to a fraternity house, a couple with a newborn baby do whatever they can to take them down.
Director: Nicholas Stoller | Stars: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Lisa Kudrow
Votes: 329,312 | Gross: $150.16M
34. 22 Jump Street (2014)
R | 112 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt and Jenko when they go deep undercover at a local college.
Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller | Stars: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Ice Cube, Nick Offerman
Votes: 405,895 | Gross: $191.72M
35. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
R | 117 min | Comedy
In 1980, a group of college baseball players navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Blake Jenner, Tyler Hoechlin, Ryan Guzman, Zoey Deutch
Votes: 58,585 | Gross: $3.37M
36. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016)
R | 92 min | Comedy
When their new next-door neighbors turn out to be a sorority even more debaucherous than the fraternity that lived there before, Mac and Kelly team with their former enemy, Teddy, to bring the girls down.
Director: Nicholas Stoller | Stars: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Chloë Grace Moretz
Votes: 130,172 | Gross: $55.46M
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