CHICAGO, Nov. 22, 2011 — StateUniversity.com, the leading website for college information, has released a new ranking of the safest colleges and universities in the U.S. The Safest Schools findings are based on incidents of campus crime as reported by campus safety officials. The 2011 rankings are available online at http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/safety_score_rank.html.
As part of the Safest Schools ranking, StateUniversity.com analyzed crime statistics for 450 colleges and universities and assigned a safety rating to each school. Safety ratings are determined based on the number of occurrences of aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, theft/larceny, motor vehicle theft, forcible rape, and murder on campus, and then are weighed based on the probability of each incident happening to each student since naturally larger campuses would be expected to have a higher number of total incidents. Violent crime is given more weight in the ranking system, and has a greater effect on the safety rating than non-violent crime such as theft.
The Safest Schools ranking lists are presented alongside all of the underlying crime statistics for quick reference and comparison. Safest Schools by State lists are also available.
The ranking presents interesting data about which schools are safest. There is no apparent correlation between campus crime rates and perceived academic quality. Among the top 50 safest schools, you won't see many well-known national universities commonly found atop college ranking lists. In fact, the large state universities and prestigious colleges that are "household names" in many parts of the country are scattered all over the list.
The top 10 safest schools nationwide are:
- Arkansas State University, Beebe Campus — Beebe, AR
- Louisiana State University — Eunice, LA
- The University of Virginia's College at Wise — Wise, VA
- Lake Land College — Mattoon, IL
- Central Texas College — Killeen, TX
- Delgado Community College — New Orleans, LA
- Erskine College and Seminary — Due West, SC
- Southern University at New Orleans — New Orleans, LA
- Virginia Western Community College — Roanoke, VA
- Edison State College — Fort Myers, FL
Dominik Mazur, founder of StateUniversity.com, said, "Student safety and campus crime are sometimes overlooked during the college evaluation process. We believe it is important for students to be aware of crime on campus and in the surrounding community."
The safety rankings are the latest in a series of rankings lists compiled by StateUniversity.com, including Top Ranked Schools Overall.
About StateUniversity.com
Covering all U.S. institutions of higher learning, StateUniversity.com features the most complete collection of school statistics anywhere. The website allows prospective students to compare schools, research degree programs, and submit requests for application materials.
About Net Industries LLC
Founded in 2002, Net Industries LLC publishes educational websites and is the creator of JRank, a search engine (http://www.jrank.org/), in addition to several other large Web properties, which are listed at the company's website: http://www.netindustries.us/.
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