When the time comes at last to send your daughter off to university, beyond academics it’s important to know that you’re sending her to a safe place. Sure, you can never completely insure that your little girl will be 100 percent safe, but it never hurts to have some statistical information to help you make a decision. In light of the recent furor over the Stanford rape case, it might help you to know which colleges have the most reported incidents of this nature. StartClass.com has kept track of the highest instances of sexual assault at campuses throughout the nation with more than 5,000 students over the last decade. It’s important to remember that, sadly, most cases of sexual assault still go unreported, so this doesn’t necessarily mean that these institutions are more prone to this crime more than others. However, with a tragic lack of data, these numbers are perhaps a good place to start.
15. Westfield State University
Founded in 1838, Westfield State University in Massachusetts reports nearly one forcible sexual assault per 1,000 students. The college is home to around 6,300 students and over the last decade, 50 on-campus sexual assaults have been reported.
14. Harvard University
Harvard may have some of the highest academic standards in the country, but their sexual assault policy needs some work. In the last decade, 241 sexual assaults have been recorded. In recent years, the university has taken strides to combat this troubling record, with one initiative to offer consent classes.
13. University of Redlands
The University of Redlands in California, may not be an extremely high profile college, however, nearly one in 1,000 students encounters some kind of forcible sexual assault. The issue is a big one on campus. The students have raised the level of conversation to the front page of the school’s paper.
12. SUNY College at Plattsburgh
Nearly 50 percent of the students who apply to SUNY College at Plattsburgh get their wish for admittance. Unfortunately, the campus is also dealing with an on-going issue with sexual assault. Fifty-seven cases have been reported in the last decade.
11. Stanford University
It’s not surprising to see this Ivy League school on the list given the high-profile coverage of the recent “Stanford Rape Case.” The college has become a symbol of everything that’s wrong with the way college assaults are handled. In the last decade, Stanford has recorded 174 forcible sexual assaults on campus. This recent case illustrates why many women are reluctant to come forward and report their assaults, but it has also opened up the conversation and will hopefully serve as a catalyst for change.
10. Emory University
In the south, Emory University enjoys a prestigious reputation as one of the more exclusive colleges in the region. However, Emory has also gathered a reputation for possibly obfuscating sexual assaults or even under-reporting them to authorities. In other words, Emory University’s 123 reported cases of sexual assault in the last decade may be just a fraction of the total.
9. Northern Michigan University
Northern Michigan University is home to almost 9,000 students. About one in a thousand of those report an instance of forcible sexual assault, creating an average of about 9 reported sexual assaults a year (no doubt plenty more go unreported).
8. California State University-Monterey Bay
The branch of California State University at Monterey Bay is one of the Universities on the list that appears to have made some strides to counteract their poor record of this crime (44 forcible on-campus sex offenses in the past decade). They’ve begun to offer free self-defense classes as well as implementing a full sexual assault care program.
7. Yale University
In spite of the fact that 113 sexual assaults have been reported on the campus in the last decade, Yale is attempting to make its campus a safer place for its students. Earlier this year, the school committed the admirable (even if it should be totally par for the course) act of expelling a star basketball player who was convicted of sexual assault.
6. Brown University
Though Brown may have a progressive reputation among the Ivy Leagues, it still has a long way to go. In spite of the fact that the school ranked so high last year when this report was released, a recent closed report from the Department of Education places the school at the top of a list of reported rapes.
5. University of Rochester
The University of Rochester may be a pretty low profile university on a national level, but it’s celebrated in the region for the quality of its education. Unfortunately, the university has reported 104 cases of forcible on-campus sex offenses with one student for every thousand reporting an assault.
4. Ramapo College of New Jersey
Just over one student in every thousand is the victim of some kind of forced sexual assault at Ramapo College of New Jersey and there have been 64 reported cases over the last decade, but the college itself is working against that number. Last September, the college banned the perpetrator of a sexual assault, even though the victim declined to press criminal charges.
3. Vanderbilt University
Located in Nashville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt University has reported more than 140 cases of sexual offenses on the campus in the last decade. In April, a former football player at the university was found guilty of several ominous charges including aggravated rape. The incident in question involves three other players whose cases have yet to come to trial.
2. Princeton University
More than one and a half student for every one of the eight thousand students enrolled at Princeton encounter some kind of forcible sexual assault. In 2014, the problem was so bad that the university reported three sexual assaults over the course of one weekend. In the last decade, Princeton has reported 124 sexual assaults, an issue which does seem to be shrinking somewhat in recent years.
1. Dartmouth College
Two-point-three students out of every thousand at Dartmouth report some kind of sexual assault and the campus has reported 153 sexual assault cases in the last decade. Now, here’s the twist: what if that’s a good thing? What if Dartmouth is actually an extremely progressive school where students are encouraged to report these travesties? The issue is under-reporting, folks, and the fact Dartmouth wants to report (read: own up) to these horrible acts may just speak well of the institution.
