25 Most Dangerous Colleges in America
Business Insider published dangerous college rankings ( 25 most dangerous campuses ) in the USA based on crime rate statistics from FBI over the last three years.
NOTE: Some people have objected to our use of FBI data because (1) not all schools participate in the survey and (2) some schools are more aggressive than others in reporting crime in neighboring noncampus areas.
In response to criticism, we prepared an alternate list based on on-campus crimes tracked for the Clery Act. We are happy to report, however, that this alternate ranking produced remarkably similar results — suggesting that both lists are good at identifying dangerous colleges
Before we look at dangerous college rankings, here is note of caution and debate that started after the Rankings based on Crime rate in campus was published.
James E. Grant Jr., assistant vice chancellor for strategic communications of the University of California at Riverside (which made both lists), said he was bothered by an “intentionally inflammatory headline” that is now being “widely disseminated — right at the time families are deciding where to send their young scholars to college.” – InsideHigehrEd
I’m reporting the Rankings based on FBI Crime Rates stats from Business Insider.
Dangerous college rankings
- #25 Florida State University — Tallahassee
- #24 University of California — Riverside
- #23 Arkansas State University — Jonesboro
- #22 State University of New York College — Buffalo
- #21 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
- #20 Western Illinois University
#19 California State University — Fresno
#18 Rutgers University — Newark
#17 New Mexico State University
#16 Northern Arizona University
#15 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
#14 Southern Illinois University — Carbondale
#13 University of Cincinnati
#11 Ball State University
#10 Georgia Institute of Technology
#9 Louisiana State University — Baton Rouge
#8 University of South Alabama
#7 University of New Mexico
#6 San Diego State University
#5 Vanderbilt University
#4 Florida A&M University
#3 Duke University
#2 University of California — Berkeley
#1 University of California — Los Angeles
Fun Note – I don’t see anything dangerous about UCLA Cheerleaders. Do you?
UCLA director of media relations Phil Hampton issued the following statement:
Safety is a priority at UCLA, and we are proud of our record. UCLA police take reports of crimes committed not only on university-owned and university-operated properties both on campus and off, but also crimes committed in neighboring off-campus areas where UCLA police have concurrent jurisdiction with other law enforcement agencies. Our students feel safe. To conclude that UCLA somehow is dangerous is a reckless mischaracterization of data.
My View About this Rankings
Crime is everywhere.
You can see MIT, Georgia Tech, Duke, UCLA in the list of Dangerous Campus.
If you happen to be at wrong place at wrong time, then crime, just like accident can happen to anyone at anyplace.
It’s good to know such stats, but I wouldn’t pay much attention to college rankings based on crime statistics.
Similar to this, there are rankings for most dangerous cities in USA. People still live in cities, college camps are there in those cities as well. Students do go to schools and graduate.
International students reading this will go berserk. If parents happen to read this, I know they are going to strike down colleges from their kids list.
Please, make decision based on academic profile, not based on Dangerous rankings or even college rankings based on various other factors.
Next –
Huh? MIT? Correct me If I’m wrong, but MIT attracts the MOST qualified students from all over the world. I really think most of these statistics are based on simple everyday problems such as misplacing your iPod or something like that as Shreekumar said. Don’t be afraid of applying to any of these universities guys, crime everywhere. Anyways, It was very informative and resourceful of Raghuram to publish this article, and note that he really could not do anything to alter these rankings based on his viewers’ personal views on crime. You guys should be more thankful to him for collecting data by various sources and organizing them in one box, rather than criticizing him on errors he could not fix. Thanks again HSB 🙂
Hi,
I appeared for GRE in the month of July-2011 when the score scale was out of 1600. My overall score is 1050 with 750/800 in Maths 300/800 in English and 3/6 in AWA. Presently I am an IT professional and have 1+ years of experience and I am a B.E graduate in Electronics Engineering with an aggregate of 72% -2011 pass out. Can I apply for any of the well known universities abroad where I can pursue quality technical education? Is the GRE score too low to apply for any recognized universities?
I am copying below a link to an article which appeared in the New York Times. I am not posting this as comment on U Mass at Amherst, a university for which I have some affection because of various personal associations, but as a cautionary note on a climate of violence (especially violence against women) that prevails on a number of U. S. campuses as it does all over India. I also do not mean to frighten young women from going to study in the U. S. (A number of my women students are in various American Universities pursuing advanced degrees) but to alert you to be careful and follow sensible practices when you live on campus. Good Luck.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/education/amherst-account-of-rape-brings-tension-to-forefront.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Hi,everybody my name is Anvesh,i took Gre very recently and secured 290 and i m panicd whether dz score is sufficient or i has to took the test again plz give ur feedback to my id…and also plz guide me for the selection of best universities based on these score..
290 is low score. Retake GRE.
Dear Avnesh,
Remember 290 is a very good score, admissions are a combined criteria of your aggregate, LOR, SOP & other factors, so inspite of taking GRE again, score better in TOEFL, focus on guides, interact with them, universities will definitely accept you.
Actually , it is not. Your SoP and other factors don’t count at all. What counts (in order of decreasing importance) is whether your referees are known to the people in the admissions committee, your previous school, previous degree, and GPA.
The truth is Toefl and GREs are just used as cut offs, and sometimes the GRE is not even looked at. Even though they claim it is a standardized test, they will still rate you less than an applicant from a better school, even if you have the highest GRE score in the world and extensive research experience. That is the real truth, and is a result of the modern admissions process getting taken over by professors for their individual whims and fancies.
However, they still want you to believe that the other factors count. That way the whole admissions committee can pretend that they aren’t hypocrites, and the university will not get a bad name.
I assume that “My views on the rankings” are from Raghuram and I agree with him completely, word for word. From the postings one cannot make out if #25 is the most dangerous and #1 the least, or vice versa. But that does not matter. There is no indication what crimes make up the statistics. If a student loses a wallet or an I-pod and reports it to campus security, does that become part of the statistic? Are only violent crimes included in the compilation? Anyway, as Raghu said, crime is everywhere. Be careful and during your orientation the campus security will tell you what precautions to take while on campus or campus buildings at night. I have been on many of the California campuses on the list. I was at Berkeley for a couple of Semesters at the height of the student protest movements in the early 70’s. I never thought twice about walking through the campus to my apartment on College Ave. at midnight or later. In fact both Columbia and City University of New York are in what was traditionally considered among the most crime ridden neighborhood in New York City, but neither appears on the list. MIT ! Hah, that’s a laugh.
Refer to the original article to see the data used to calculate the crimes.
i think it is about financial cost and burden.. MIT is in the list
Thanks for the info. Comforting to see only one of my choice Univ in the list, that too on the 1st page. 😛
But Seriously, 8 pages for a list of 25 🙂
🙂 go to Business Insider article (source) you will see 26 pages for 25 schools.
Its a Slide show with information for each institute.
Well, 8<26. 🙂
But on a serious note, Some of my friends now in US were really shocked to see some names mentioned here. They were really unaware about this while making their decision.
hey “Western Illinois University” is in the
Dangerous college rankings , now i have a admit ..so what do u suggest me shal i go for it or not?
It is shocking to see UCB and UCLA in the the list.
MIT really?
Yes, I was surprised to see MIT, UCLA, Duke, Berkley.
hi….i have completed my bds (bachelor of dental surgery) in september 2012…..i wanted to study in usa….so please do guide me…which course i will choose n which university, because i m quite confused…….plz do reply me….regards, dr. tavleen 🙂
Why do you seem so surprised?
Its not the people associated with the academia at the university who perpetrate the crime. Outside any campus, people are the same. The case is the same with Berkeley as well. I am from University of Houston and there are regular petty thefts and unarmed robbery that takes place around campus.
Its a peculiar debate!! I mean, if you see today’s world CRIME and ACCIDENTS have become a part of life!! and even places like church and temples have witnessed it! so what can you do?? if you start avoiding places in fear of crime then you will eventually have only ur kitchen and bathroom to visit!
What I think is to study the crime density of the city not the campus!! And if it is high… BE CAREFUL!! DONT AVOID IT!!