Fast Facts: College crime (804)

College crime

Question:
What information do you have on college crime?

Response:

Since 1990, degree-granting postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal student financial aid programs have been required to comply with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, known as the Clery Act. The Clery Act requires institutions to distribute timely warnings about crime incidents to students and staff; to publicly report campus crime and safety policies; and to collect, report, and disseminate campus crime data. Since 1999, data on campus safety and security have been reported by institutions through the Campus Safety and Security Survey, sponsored by the Office of Postsecondary Education of the U.S. Department of Education. These data are reported for each calendar year and include on-campus criminal offenses and arrests involving students, faculty, staff, and the general public, as well as referrals for disciplinary action primarily dealing with persons associated formally with the institution (i.e., students, faculty, and other staff).¹ Due to underreporting, figures for reported offenses, arrests, and disciplinary referrals likely do not capture all incidents that occurred. For example, according to reports in a student survey administered at several dozen large universities, officially reported sexual assaults represented only a minority of sexual assaults that occurred.²

The Clery Act requires postsecondary degree-granting institutions to report data for several types of crimes,³ including the following seven against persons and property on their campuses: murder, sex offenses (forcible and nonforcible), robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson.⁴ In calendar year 2021, a total of 23,400 criminal incidents (hereafter referred to as crimes) of these types were reported.⁵^,⁶ This translates to 16.9 on-campus crimes reported per 10,000 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students enrolled. Among the various types of on-campus crimes reported in 2021, there were

10,400 forcible sex offenses⁷ (44 percent of reported on-campus crimes);
6,500 burglaries⁸ (28 percent of reported on-campus crimes);
3,500 motor vehicle thefts⁹ (15 percent of reported on-campus crimes);
2,100 aggravated assaults¹⁰ (9 percent of reported on-campus crimes);
500 robberies¹¹ (2 percent of reported on-campus crimes); and
400 arson¹² incidents (2 percent of reported on-campus crimes).

These estimates translate to 7.5 forcible sex offenses, 4.7 burglaries, 2.5 motor vehicle thefts, 1.5 aggravated assaults, 0.4 robberies, and 0.3 arson incidents per 10,000 FTE students.

The overall number of on-campus crimes reported per 10,000 FTE students was lower in 2021 than in 2011 (16.9 vs. 20.0) but showed no consistent trend for this period. Specifically, the overall rate of on-campus crimes

was 6 percent lower in 2019 than in 2011 (18.8 vs. 20.0 per 10,000 FTE students);
decreased by 20 percent between 2019 and 2020, during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic¹³ (from 18.8 to 15.0 per 10,000 FTE students); and
increased by 12 percent between 2020 and 2021.

Considering specific types of reported on-campus crimes, the rate per 10,000 FTE students was lower in 2021 than in 2011 for five categories: murder, robbery, burglary, arson, and nonforcible sex offenses. In contrast, the rate was higher in 2021 than in 2011 for forcible sex offenses, motor vehicle theft, and aggravated assault.¹⁴ Specifically, the rate for forcible sex offenses increased between 2011 and 2021 (from 2.2 to 7.5 per 10,000 FTE students), surpassing burglary as the most reported crime and peaking in 2018.

¹ As of October 9, 2020, the Department of Education has rescinded and archived the Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting, which in previous years was provided to assist institutions, in a step-by-step manner, in understanding and meeting the various Clery Act requirements. The Department now provides a Clery-related Appendix to the Federal Student Aid Handbook. For more information about the rescission and replacement of the previous Handbook, see: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2020-10-09/rescission-and-replacement-2016-handbook-campus-safety-and-security-reporting-updated-jan-19-2021. Due to this change, readers should exercise caution when comparing data for 2020 and later to those from previous years.
² Cantor, D., Fisher, B., Chibnall, S., Harps, S., Townsend, R., Thomas, G., Lee, H., Kranz, V., Herbison, R., and Madden, K. (2020). Report on the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct. Rockville, MD: Westat. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.aau.edu/sites/default/files/AAU-Files/Key-Issues/Campus-Safety/Revised%20Aggregate%20report%20%20and%20appendices%201-7_(01-16-2020_FINAL).pdf.
³ In addition to the seven crimes against persons and property reported in this Fast Fact, degree-granting institutions are also required to report data on negligent manslaughter. An average of 2 manslaughter incidents have been reported annually across all institutions since 2010. A ninth category of crime is arrests or persons referred for campus disciplinary action for liquor law violations, drug-related violations, and weapons possession. The Clery Act requires additional reporting for hate crimes (for more information, see Hate Crime Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions).
⁴ Data reported throughout this Fast Fact are based on these seven types of crimes.
⁵ For general technical notes related to data analysis, data interpretation, rounding, and other considerations, please refer to the Condition of Education Reader's Guide.
⁶ Duplicate reporting of a small number of incidents may occur among institutions sharing all or part of a building, institutions in close proximity to each other that rely on the same crime statistics from local law enforcement agencies, or institutions operating more than one campus in close proximity to each other.
⁷ Refers to any sexual act directed against another person forcibly and/or against that person’s will. Reporting guidelines for forcible sex offenses changed in 2014. In years prior to 2014, schools reported a total number of forcible sex offenses, with no breakouts for specific types of offenses. Beginning in 2014, schools were asked to report the numbers of two different types of forcible sex offenses: rape and fondling. These two types were added together to calculate the total number of reported forcible sex offenses.
⁸ Refers to unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft.
⁹ Refers to theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.
¹⁰ Refers to an attack upon a person for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.
¹¹ Refers to taking or attempting to take anything of value using actual or threatened force or violence.
¹² Refers to willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle, or personal property of another.
¹³ In calendar year 2020, many postsecondary institutions shifted instruction from in-person classes to online-only or hybrid education during the coronavirus pandemic, which meant fewer students on college campuses. According to the 2019–20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20), 84 percent of undergraduate students reported having some or all classes moved to online-only instruction in spring 2020 due to the pandemic. For more information, see the First Look at the Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic on Undergraduate Student Enrollment, Housing, and Finances (Preliminary Data) (NCES 2021-456).
¹⁴ The rate for negligent manslaughter per 10,000 FTE students was also higher in 2021 (0.004) than in 2011 (0.001).

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Criminal Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved July 25, 2024, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a21.

Numbers in figure titles reflect original numeration from source Condition of Education indicators.

A 2008 amendment to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security and Campus Crime Statistics Act requires postsecondary institutions to report hate crime incidents.¹ A hate crime is a criminal offense that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the perpetrator’s bias against the victim(s) based on race, ethnicity,² religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.

In 2021, of the 23,426 reported criminal incidents that occurred on the campuses of postsecondary institutions, 667 incidents (3 percent of all reported criminal incidents) were classified as hate crimes.¹^,² This translates to an average of 0.5 hate crime incidents occurring per 10,000 full-time-equivalent students enrolled. The reported on-campus hate crimes included

300 incidents of intimidation (45 percent of all reported hate crimes);
243 incidents of destruction, damage, and vandalism (36 percent);
61 incidents of simple assault (9 percent);
25 incidents of aggravated assault (4 percent);
18 incidents of larceny (3 percent);
8 incidents of forcible sex offenses (1 percent);
6 incidents of burglary (1 percent);
5 incidents of robbery (1 percent); and
1 incident of arson (less than one half of 1 percent).

There were no reported incidents of motor vehicle theft, murder, or nonforcible sex offenses classified as on-campus hate crimes in 2021.

¹ Data on hate crimes have been reported by institutions through the Campus Safety and Security Survey, sponsored by the Office of Postsecondary Education within the U.S. Department of Education (ED). As of October 9, 2020, ED has rescinded and archived the Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting, which in previous years was provided to assist institutions in understanding and meeting the various Clery Act requirements. ED now provides a Clery Act Appendix to the Federal Student Aid Handbook. For more information about the rescission and replacement of the previous Handbook, see: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2020-10-09/rescission-and-replacement-2016-handbook-campus-safety-and-security-reporting-updated-jan-19-2021. Due to this change, readers should exercise caution when comparing data for 2020 and later to those from previous years.
² Includes national origin bias. For more information, see https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/resource/hate-crime-data-collection-guidelines-and-training-manual-version-30.
³ Data are for degree-granting institutions, which are institutions that grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs.
⁴ Duplicate reporting of a small number of incidents may occur among institutions sharing all or part of a building, institutions in close proximity to each other that rely on the same crime statistics from local law enforcement agencies, or institutions operating more than one campus in close proximity to each other.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Hate Crime Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved July 25, 2024, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a22.

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