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Annual Reports and Information Staff (Annual Reports)
Postsecondary Education

Hate Crime Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions

Last Updated: September 2023
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This indicator also appears under School Crime and Safety.
In 2020, the three most common types of on-campus hate crimes reported by degree-granting postsecondary institutions were intimidation, vandalism, and simple assault. The three most frequently reported categories of bias motivating hate crimes were race, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Race was the motivating bias in 55 percent of reported hated crimes (314 incidents); sexual orientation was the motivating bias in 16 percent of reported hate crimes (90 incidents); and ethnicity was the motivating bias in 11 percent of reported hate crimes (65 incidents).
A 2008 amendment to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act, see Criminal Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions) 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 their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. The Clery Act requires institutions to report data on hate-related incidents for seven types of crimes—murder, sex offenses (forcible and nonforcible), robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The 2008 amendment also requires campuses to report hate-related incidents for four additional types of crimes: simple assault; larceny; intimidation; and destruction, damage, and vandalism.

Select a subgroup characteristic from the drop-down menu below to view relevant text and figures.

Figure 1. Number of on-campus hate crimes at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by selected types of crime: 2010, 2019, and 2020
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1 Placing another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.

2 Willfully or maliciously destroying, damaging, defacing, or otherwise injuring real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.

3 Physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.

4 Attack upon a person for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.

5 Unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession of another.

6 Any sexual act directed against another person forcibly and/or against that person’s will.

7 Unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft.

8 Willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle, or personal property of another.

9 Taking or attempting to take anything of value using actual or threatened force or violence.

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. A hate crime is a criminal offense that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the perpetrator’s bias against a group of people based on their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Includes on-campus incidents involving students, staff, and guests. Excludes off-campus incidents even if they involve students or staff. In 2010, 2019, and 2020, there were 0 reported incidents of murder, nonforcible sex offenses, and motor vehicle theft that were classified as hate crimes. Caution should be used when comparing on-campus data for 2020 with those of earlier years due to the switch to online learning in many postsecondary institutions in fall 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Campus Safety and Security Reporting System, 2010, 2019, and 2020. See Digest of Education Statistics 2022, table 329.30.

In 2020, of the reported criminal incidents that occurred on the campuses of postsecondary institutions, 571 incidents were classified as hate crimes.2 This translates to an average of 0.4 hate crime incidents occurring per 10,000 full-time-equivalent students enrolled.3 The reported on-campus hate crimes included
  • 281 incidents of intimidation (49 percent of all reported hate crimes);
  • 195 incidents of destruction, damage, and vandalism (34 percent);4
  • 58 incidents of simple assault (10 percent);
  • 21 incidents of aggravated assault (4 percent);
  • 11 incidents of larceny (2 percent);
  • 3 incidents of forcible sex offenses (1 percent);
  • 1 incident of burglary (less than 1 percent); and
  • 1 incident of arson (less than 1 percent).
There were no reported incidents of motor vehicle theft, murder, nonforcible sex offenses, or robbery classified as on-campus hate crimes in 2020.
Between 2010 and 2020, there was no consistent pattern of change in the overall number of reported on-campus hate crimes. 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.5 The number of reported on-campus hate crimes in 2020 (571 incidents) was 25 percent lower than in 2019 (759 incidents) and 38 percent lower than in 2010 (928 incidents). [Time series ]
When examined by the specific type of crime, in every year from 2010 to 2020, intimidation, vandalism, and simple assault were the three most common types of on-campus hate crimes reported by institutions.6 However, over this period, the percentage distribution of these crimes shifted. Specifically, the percentage of hate crimes that were intimidation
  • increased from 28 percent in 2010 to 46 percent in 2019 before the pandemic; and
  • continued to increase to 49 percent in 2020 during the first year of the pandemic.
The percentage of hate crimes that were vandalism
  • decreased from 60 percent to 38 percent between 2010 and 2019; and
  • continued to decrease to 34 percent in 2020.
The percentages of on-campus hate crimes that were simple assaults
  • in 2019 and 2020 (11 and 10 percent, respectively) were both higher than the percentage in 2010 (7 percent).
In other words, although the number of on-campus hate crimes reported during the first year of the pandemic was lower than the numbers reported during each of the previous 10 years, changes in the percentage distribution of the types of crimes committed generally followed pre-pandemic trends for hate crimes that were intimidation and vandalism. [Time series ]
In 2020, race, sexual orientation, and ethnicity were the three most frequently reported categories of bias7 motivating on-campus hate crimes at postsecondary institutions, accounting for about 82 percent of reported on-campus hate crimes.8 Race was the motivating bias in more than half of on-campus hate crimes. Of the total reported hate crimes at postsecondary institutions
  • 55 percent were motivated by race (314 incidents);
  • 16 percent were motivated by sexual orientation (90 incidents);
  • 11 percent were motivated by ethnicity (65 incidents);
  • 9 percent were motivated by religion (51 incidents);
  • 5 percent were motivated by gender (29 incidents);9
  • 2 percent were motivated by gender identity (13 incidents);10 and
  • 2 percent were motivated by disability (9 incidents).
Figure 2. Number of on-campus hate crimes at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by category of bias motivating the crime and type of crime: 2020
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1 Placing another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.

2 Willfully or maliciously destroying, damaging, defacing, or otherwise injuring real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.

3 Physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.

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. A hate crime is a criminal offense that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the perpetrator’s bias against a group of people based on their race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Includes on-campus incidents involving students, staff, and guests. Excludes off-campus crimes and arrests even if they involve students or staff.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Campus Safety and Security Reporting System, 2020. See Digest of Education Statistics 2022, table 329.30.

Similar to the overall pattern, race and sexual orientation were generally the two most frequently reported categories of bias motivating the three most common types of on-campus hate crimes reported in 2020—intimidation, vandalism, and simple assault. For simple assault, sexual orientation and ethnicity were the motivating bias for the same number of incidents (9).
Across different types of postsecondary institutions, the total number of on-campus hate crimes reported in 2020 was highest at 4-year public institutions, followed by 4-year private nonprofit institutions (273 and 242 incidents, respectively). Together, 90 percent of hate crimes took place at these two types of institutions. To some extent, this reflects their larger enrollment size and number of students living on campus. However, 4-year private nonprofit institutions enrolled less than half as many students as 4-year public institutions in fall 2020 (3.4 million vs. 7.4 million; see Digest of Education Statistics 2021 for details about college enrollment) but had 89 percent as many reported hate crimes. As a result, the rate of hate crimes was higher at 4-year private nonprofit institutions than at 4-year public institutions (0.7 vs. 0.4 hate crimes per 10,000 students). Public 2-year institutions, which enrolled 2.7 million students, reported 49 hate crimes (0.2 hate crimes per 10,000 students). The most commonly reported categories of motivating bias were similar across these types of postsecondary institutions. [Level of institution ] [Control of institution]
As noted above, the rate of on-campus hate crimes was higher at the types of institutions that tend to have more students living on campus (4-year public and 4-year private nonprofit institutions). Data are also available specifically regarding whether hate crimes occurred in residence halls. In both 2019 and 2020, nearly a third (32 and 31 percent, respectively) of all on-campus hate crimes occurred in residence halls. Similar to the overall pattern in 2020, the three most common types of hate crimes reported in residence halls were intimidation (79 incidents), vandalism (74 incidents), and simple assault (13 incidents). In addition, race and sexual orientation were the two most frequently reported categories of motivating bias for hate crimes that took place in residence halls. These patterns also held for hate crimes that took place at locations other than residence halls. [Time series ]

1 Data on hate crimes 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. 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 2020 data to those from previous years.

2 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.

3 The base of 10,000 full-time-equivalent students includes students who are enrolled exclusively in distance learning courses and who may not be physically present on campus. The number of students exclusively enrolled in distance education courses was higher in fall 2020 than in fall 2019 (see Undergraduate Enrollment and Postbaccalaureate Enrollment).

4 Referred to as “vandalism” in this indicator.

5 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).

6 Although only three years of data are shown in figure 1, the trend analysis is based on all years.

7 A single category of motivating bias was reported for each hate crime.

8 The reported total of 571 incidents also includes one arson that was motivated by race, which was not shown separately in the reference table.

9 Defined for the respondents as a “preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender, e.g., male or female.”

10 Defined for the respondents as a “preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender identity, e.g., bias against transgender or gender non-conforming individuals. Gender non-conforming describes a person who does not conform to the gender-based expectations of society, e.g., a woman dressed in traditionally male clothing or a man wearing makeup. A gender non-conforming person may or may not be a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person but may be perceived as such.”

Supplemental Information

Table 329.30 (Digest 2022): On-campus hate crimes at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level and control of institution, type of crime, and category of bias motivating the crime: Selected years, 2010 through 2020;
Table 307.10 (Digest 2021): Full-time-equivalent fall enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by control and level of institution: 1967 through 2030;
Table 329.30 (Digest 2021): On-campus hate crimes at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level and control of institution, type of crime, and category of bias motivating the crime: Selected years, 2010 through 2019;
Table 329.30 (Digest 2018): On-campus hate crimes at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level and control of institution, type of crime, and category of bias motivating the crime: Selected years, 2010 through 2016
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Previous versions of this indicator available in the Indicators of School Crime and Safety reports.
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Suggested Citation

National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Hate Crime Incidents at Postsecondary Institutions. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved [date], from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a22.