Safety on a college campus: It’s not the first thing you think about as you’re deciding on where to go to school (or send your child to school), but maybe it should be. So before you apply for that private student loan, listen up. We looked at campuses across the country and found the ones most dangerous to students’ health, located in the worst neighborhoods, with the worst reputations. Abandon hope, all ye who study here!
#5) Temple University
Temple University takes a slot not because the school, alma mater of Bill Cosby and Bob Saget, is number one in any particular crime, but because of its location: smack in the middle of North Philadelphia, and close to Kensington, better known to Philly natives as “the badlands”.
We don’t mean to make the City of Brotherly Love sound too dangerous: most of it, and even most of the “bad neighborhoods” are perfectly safe most of the time. But Temple is infamous for its location and for the fact that many of its students are the target of purse-snatchings, muggings, and other crimes. In fact, it’s so bad it beats out Rutgers, which is located in Camden, NJ, one of the worst areas in the world for homicides.
That’s because the Temple campus is tightly integrated into the neighborhood, with students living all around the area and residents passing through the campus on their daily business. Temple University does its best to keep its students safe, but if you go to school there, you’ll likely get an education in street smarts (along with your degree, of course).
#4) Cornell University
Cornell has an outstanding reputation as a college, but it’s also number one in a less-glamorous arena: suicides.
Cornell’s reputation as a “suicide school” is well known, but what’s not known is what drives it. Cornell has thrown millions of dollars at the problem, educating everybody — from professors down to the custodians — on the signs of depression, mental illness, and possible suicide.
What’s especially odd is the statistics: Cornell doesn’t seem to be unusual in terms of numbers, but the suicides that happen are generally heavily covered by the media.
This could be because the gorges near campus make suicide fairly simple. It also creates a problem, the school feels, because the reputation is self-feeding: if a person is potentially suicidal, and hears about the “suicide school” rumors, he or she will be more inclined to commit suicide.
Regardless of the reason for the “suicide school” reputation, every student needs to be educated on suicide risk and prevention. College can be a heavy workload, and that can create a lot of stress for students.
If you’re ever feeling overwhelmed, go to Campus Services and ask for help. Academic help, personal help; whatever you need, your school wants to give it to you.
#3) Dartmouth
Tragically, the most common violent crime on college campuses is not fistfighting or physical violence. It’s sexual assault. Sexual assault also remains the most underreported crime on college campuses. Nowhere is it a bigger problem than Dartmouth.
To be fair to the school that inspired Animal House, the rate is approximately twenty students per year out of six thousand attending. Furthermore, Dartmouth has not been idle in attempting to lower the rate, putting out awareness programs, speaking to individual students, and training dorm staff to spot the signs of sexual assault.
Part of the problem is Dartmouth’s contentious relationship with its Greek system. The faculty have voted more than once to completely shut down the Greek system, and the relationship between staff and students can be fraught with anger and anxiety. This creates two problems: it drives down the likelihood that crimes will be reported, and it keeps some students from listening to the university’s concerns over sexual assault.
Either way, Dartmouth has a problem, and it seems unlikely it’ll be fixed in the near future. So despite the overall low odds … tread with care.
#2) University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi is on this list for one reason and for one reason only: its own students think the student body drinks too much.
We can’t emphasize enough how dangerous alcohol is, especially underage drinking. Part of the problem is, of course, students experiencing their freedom for the first time. Easy access to alcohol also helps. The students drink at frat parties, they drink in dorms, they drink at football games … alcohol is, like it or not, a part of campus life. It leads to, among other things, people getting hurt and killed from drunk driving and other stupidity.
But, apparently, the students at Mississippi take it just a little too far — even by their own standards. Just check out Campus Prowler, which collects students’ opinions on their campuses. It shows the school sitting at the lowest possible grade for drug safety: a D+. This is likely because of the football team: it’s been shown that schools with popular football teams tend to have more of an alcohol problem.
#1) Benedict College
You’ve probably never heard of this small campus tucked away in South Carolina, but the police have. Have they ever.
While Benedict isn’t the most violent school, it does have, pure and simple, the highest crime rate per capita of any campus in the nation. To be fair, most of those crimes were property crimes: people getting their laptop stolen, or their car stolen, crimes such as those.
Still, the numbers don’t lie, and the FBI’s own crime statistics point to Benedict College. So…congratulations? We suppose?
Remember, though, regardless of what school you go to, you’re at risk for crime. College students are frequently targeted by thieves, and sometimes even commit crimes on each other. So, follow a few simple steps:
- Keep your dorm room locked when you’re not in it.
- Always keep your cell phone charged and on your person.
- Never drink to excess.
- Don’t play drinking games, as it’s easy to lose track of your consumption.
- When on campus, keep your laptop, phone, and other valuables close to your person.
- Always let somebody know where you are when you go out.
Keep to those rules, and use your common sense, and you won’t be in danger, regardless of which school you attend.
