Whether you are a parent doing research for your teen, or you are a high school senior who is doing research into the many colleges that are found all over the country, one thing to consider is the safety of a college campus.
Continue reading to learn a bit about how to gauge a college’s safety level, and to access info on some of the safest college campuses and cities that are located throughout the United States.
How to Get Information Regarding a School’s Safety
When doing research into different colleges and their safety ratings, there are a few sources that you can consult. For example, you can contact a school’s on-campus security officers to ask them about how much activity they see, and how often they are on duty to ensure students are always safe. You can also contact a school’s counselors to ask them about criminal activities and complaints. And, of course, you can search for campus crime stats, as well as inquire about what has been done to keep crime to a minimum.
Colleges Report Crime Info, Thanks to the Clery Act
The Clery Act is a law that has made it easier for people to find out important information about a college’s safety level. Basically, schools provide reports on several types of major crimes, which include homicide, motor vehicle theft, aggravated assault, arson, burglary, robbery, and sexual assault.
Whether these crimes happen on the campus or in off-campus facilities owned by the school, or even just near the campus, they should be reported so consumers can be better informed before they decide to enroll.
Looking into the information that the schools are required to disclose is one smart way to figure out which schools are the safest in each state. Simply performing a search for Clery Act reports can also help you access the most up-to-date information that colleges have disclosed.
Where Can You Find a List of the Safest Colleges?
Performing a simple search on the internet can give you some interesting findings regarding the safest, and least safest, schools in the country. Different resources might use different criteria for their rankings, but if you find the same information about a safe school on multiple sources—for example, if a particular school ranks high in safety on multiple resources—you can assume that it is quite safe.
Nuwber is a good place to start your search, as they have figured out the safest school in each state. For example, if you are hoping to go to school in Florida, the campus that is considered safest is Polk State College, while the safest one in New Mexico is New Mexico Highlands University, and in New Jersey, it is Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Safewise also provides some helpful information on the best and worst college towns in terms of safety. Milton, MA, followed by Rexburg, ID and Madison, NJ are the top three safest towns on their list.
Look for the Most Up-to-Date Information
As you search for the safest college campuses in the country, keep in mind that data and rankings can change often, and they can change unexpectedly. Therefore, you might want to perform the same search for this type of information multiple times while you are weighing your options about where to go to school. That way, if anything changed, you’ll be aware of those changes and you’ll be able to make the most informed decision.
