Alain’s University – The University of Montana
There are many things to consider when choosing a college or university. Things like degrees offered, majors and minors available, faculty reputation, location, public versus private, and a whole lot more. One thing I want you to include on your list is: How safe is the school?
When researching colleges and universities, find out the safety picture of your target campus too.
The Clery Act
In 1986, a young woman named Jeanne Clery was murdered on the campus of the college she attended. Her parents then successfully lobbied to gain passage of federal legislation requiring colleges and universities to compile and disclose annual statistics on student-related crime.
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act passed in 1990 and is better known simply as the Clery Act. It provides students and parents an objective measure by which to gauge the security of their current campus, or better yet, any prospective institution.
While we all know that statistics can be manipulated, and they are only as good as crimes that are reported, it the information provided still allows us to better judge the security of different colleges and universities.
These reports also show us that colleges and universities are not immune to the crimes that afflict the rest of society. Campus crime tends to fall into the same crime categories as everywhere else: homicide, sex offenses, robbery, assault, burglary, grand theft auto, and arson. However, some crimes are more directly related to campus life, such as hazing, abuse of alcohol and drugs, specific targeted scams and sexual exploitation of students by other students.
All institutions that participate in federal financial assistance programs are required to keep the most recent three years of crime statistics that have occurred on campus, in residential halls, in non-campus college or university buildings, or on public property near the campus.
Most schools are honest and do their best to follow the law. So you can get a decent idea by looking at the statistics to help include safety into your decision making process. There should be a link to Clery statistics on the school’s website. It can often be found through the public safety, security, or police web page.
There are also additional resources at the Clery Center to help with your research. Clery Center Website.