Fast Facts: College crime (804)

College crime

Question:
What information do you have on college crime?

Response:

In calendar year 2019, a total of 27,300 criminal incidents of these types were reported to police and security agencies. This translates to 18.7 on-campus crimes reported per 10,000 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students.¹ Among the various types of on-campus crimes reported in 2019, there were 11,800 forcible sex offenses, which constituted 43 percent of all criminal incidents. Other reported crimes included burglaries²(9,000 incidents, or 33 percent of crimes) and motor vehicle thefts (3,100 incidents, or 11 percent of crimes). In addition, 2,200 aggravated assaults (8 percent of crimes) and 800 robberies³ (3 percent of crimes) were reported. These estimates translate to 8.0 forcible sex offenses, 6.1 burglaries, 2.1 motor vehicle thefts, 1.5 aggravated assaults, and 0.6 robberies per 10,000 FTE students.

Number of on-campus crimes reported and number per 10,000 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by selected type of crime: 2009 through 2019

The data in this figure is described in the surrounding text.

¹ Includes other reported crimes not separately shown.
² Unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft.
³ Theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.
⁴ Any sexual act directed against another person forcibly and/or against that person's will. Data on reported forcible sex offenses have been collected differently since 2014. Beginning in 2014, schools were asked to report the numbers of two different types of forcible sex offenses, rape and fondling, and these were added together to reach the total number of reported forcible sex offenses. In years prior to 2014, schools only reported a total number of reported forcible sex offenses, with no breakouts for specific types of offenses.

NOTE: 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. Some institutions that report Clery Act data—specifically, non-degree-granting institutions and institutions outside of the 50 states and the District of Columbia—are excluded from this figure. Crimes include incidents involving students, staff, and on-campus guests. Excludes off-campus crimes even if they involve college students or staff. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

Between 2009 and 2019, the overall number of reported on-campus crimes decreased by 20 percent (from 34,100 to 27,300). Although the general trend was downward during this period, the number of reported on-campus crimes increased by 8 percent between 2014 and 2017 (from 26,800 to 29,000). When examined by the specific type of crime, the number of on-campus crimes reported in 2019 was lower than the number reported in 2009 for five categories: burglary, motor vehicle theft, aggravated assault, robbery, and arson. For forcible sex offenses, nonforcible sex offenses, murder, and negligent manslaughter, the number of on-campus crimes reported in 2019 was higher than in 2009. Specifically, five negligent manslaughter offenses were reported in 2019, while none were reported in 2009. Twenty murders were reported in 2019, while 16 were reported in 2009. Seventy-four nonforcible sex offenses were reported in 2019, while 65 were reported in 2009. The number of reported forcible sex offenses on campus increased by 363 percent, from 2,500 in 2009 to 11,800 in 2019. Readers should take note that reporting guidelines for forcible sex offenses changed in 2014,⁴ which likely contributed to the largest single-year percent increase in that year (36 percent, from 5,000 to 6,800). However, the number of reported forcible sex offenses on campus continued to increase steadily between 2014 and 2018, from 6,800 to 12,400 (an 83 percent increase, or an average increase of about 16 percent per year). In 2019, the number of reported forcible sex offenses was 5 percent lower than in 2018.

¹ The base of 10,000 FTE students includes students who are enrolled exclusively in distance learning courses and who may not be physically present on campus.
² Unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft.
³ Taking or attempting to take anything of value using actual or threatened force or violence.
⁴ In years prior to 2014, schools only 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, and these were added together to reach the total number of reported forcible sex offenses. For instance, about 6,200 rapes and 5,600 fondling incidents were reported in 2019.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Criminal Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a21.

In 2019, of the criminal incidents that occurred on the campuses of postsecondary institutions and were reported to police or security agencies, 757 incidents were classified as hate crimes. This translates to an average of 5.1 hate crime incidents occurring per 100,000 full-time-equivalent students enrolled. The three most common types of hate crimes reported by institutions were intimidation (340 incidents), destruction, damage, and vandalism (295 incidents; referred to as “vandalism” in this indicator), and simple assault (85 incidents). Other reported hate crimes included aggravated assault (16 incidents), larceny (11 incidents), forcible sex offenses (5 incidents), robbery (3 incidents), burglary (1 incident), and arson (1 incident). There were no reported incidents of motor vehicle theft, murder, or nonforcible sex offenses classified as hate crimes in 2019.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Hate Crime Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a22.

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