Rankings

Safest College Campuses in the U.S. (2024 Clery Data)

Compare the eight lowest nonzero Clery incident rates among 1,493 ranked large U.S. campuses in 2024 federal data, with reporting caveats.

Research plate

Sheet GUIDE-RES · Safest campuses guide 1,493 ranked · 2024 Clery

CAT-RANK · READ-10 · SRC-OPE · YR-2024 · COH-1K+ · VIZ-CHART · CAVEAT-YES · AUD-GEN

  • CAT-RANK Rankings
  • READ-10 10 min read
  • SRC-OPE OPE Clery
  • YR-2024 2024
  • COH-1K+ 1,493
  • VIZ-CHART Chart + table
  • CAVEAT-YES Limits stated
  • AUD-GEN General

Research plate for this guide: category, read time, federal source, reporting year, ranking cohort, visualization type, caveat posture, and audience. Every stamp maps to visible page content, not editorial decoration.

Full Sail University currently posts the lowest nonzero Clery incident rate among large U.S. campuses in our ranking

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery Act filings, Full Sail University reports 0.04 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports per 1,000 enrolled students, the lowest nonzero rate among campuses with at least 2,000 students in the companion ranking. The cohort excludes 358 large campuses with literal zero reports because zero can mean genuinely few reports or incomplete reporting. Total enrollment does not measure time physically on campus, so online and commuter-heavy institutions need extra context.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

Lowest nonzero rate / 1,000
0.04
National median / 1,000
1.58
Campuses ranked
1,493
Latest reporting year
2024

The quick answer

By Clery Act incident rate, Full Sail University currently reports the lowest nonzero score (0.04 per 1,000 students) among 1,493 ranked large campuses -- but the pattern below matters more than any single name.

1,493
campuses tracked
1.58
national median, per 1,000
0.04
lowest -- Full Sail University

Per-1,000-student rates adjust for enrollment size, not time spent physically on campus. Online and commuter-heavy institutions can post lower rates for reasons the denominator does not capture. Read the full ranking and reporting caveats, not just the #1 name.

By the numbers

Lowest reported rates among large campuses

0.04
Lowest nonzero / 1,000
1.58
National median / 1,000
1,493
Campuses ranked (2,000+)
2024
Reporting year

Eight lowest nonzero Clery incident rates (per 1,000 enrolled)

Ranked campuses with 2,000+ students, 2024 reporting year

incidents / 1,000
Source U.S. Department of Education, Campus Safety & Security Survey (Clery Act) As of 2024

The direct answer

Eight lowest nonzero reported rates

See the full top 50
  1. Full Sail University FL · 27,169 students
    0.04 / 1,000
  2. CUNY Bernard M Baruch College NY · 20,081 students
    0.05 / 1,000
  3. NUC University PR · 30,794 students
    0.06 / 1,000
  4. Seminole State College of Florida FL · 15,390 students
    0.07 / 1,000
  5. Oakland Community College MI · 15,287 students
    0.07 / 1,000
  6. CUNY LaGuardia Community College NY · 14,494 students
    0.07 / 1,000
  7. Grossmont College CA · 14,440 students
    0.07 / 1,000
  8. Cape Fear Community College NC · 14,082 students
    0.07 / 1,000

The ranked cohort contains 1,493 large campuses and excludes 358 large campuses with literal zero reports because zero can reflect either genuinely few incidents or incomplete reporting. Lower nonzero rates are listed first. Enrollment adjusts for institution size, but not for online or commuter exposure.

How We Define "Safest"

PlainCampus uses the Clery Act safety score, on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports divided by enrollment per 1,000 students, as the primary metric for this ranking. Arrests, disciplinary referrals, fire records, and off-campus reports are excluded. A lower score means fewer included reports relative to enrollment. This approach has important advantages and limitations.

The advantage is consistency: institutions report the same categories under the same federal law, and dividing by enrollment makes the result size-adjusted. It is not exposure-adjusted. Total enrollment does not show how many students are online, commuting, residential, or physically present for comparable periods. The measure also cannot account for reporting culture differences, off-campus crime, or qualitative factors like security staffing levels and emergency response capabilities.

What a Low Reported Rate Can and Cannot Show

A low score means that a campus reported fewer included Clery Act incidents for each 1,000 enrolled students in this dataset. It does not establish that a campus is safer in every setting or for every student. The score does not measure time spent on campus, off-campus incidents, security staffing, emergency response, or the reasons one campus reports more incidents than another.

That limitation matters at both ends of the ranking. A low rate can reflect fewer reported incidents, but this dataset alone cannot explain why. A higher rate can reflect more reported incidents, but it does not measure the quality of a campus's safety infrastructure. The ranking is a comparable record of federal reports, not a safety recommendation.

Read the Ranking With the Campus Profile

Use the list to find a campus profile worth examining. Each profile shows the reported incident categories, enrollment context, and the reporting year behind its score. Compare those details across campuses before drawing a conclusion from a single rate.

PlainCampus reports Clery Act data as one part of a college research process. The figures do not replace a school's required consumer information, its annual security report, or a reader's own assessment of a campus.

Browse the Data

Explore individual school profiles on PlainCampus to see detailed safety scores, crime breakdowns, fire safety data, and year-over-year trends. Use the full top-50 campus safety ranking for national comparisons, or search for specific institutions on the homepage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does campus safety data come from?

PlainCampus uses the U.S. Department of Education OPE Campus Safety Survey for Clery Act crime, reported enrollment, and applicable residential fire-safety data. We join IPEDS institutional classifications and locations. All data is federal, standardized, and publicly available.

How often is campus safety data updated?

The Department of Education releases new OPE Campus Safety Survey data annually, typically several months after the reporting period ends. Crime statistics are reported with a one-to-two year lag. PlainCampus updates when new federal data becomes available.

What does the safety score mean?

The safety score is the total number of on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports divided by enrollment per 1,000 students. A lower score means fewer reported incidents relative to enrollment. This is size-adjusted, not exposure-adjusted: total enrollment does not measure how many students spend time on campus, so online and commuter-heavy institutions need extra context.

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What to do with this list

This national list is a starting point, not a verdict on any one campus.

Figures reflect the most recent Clery Act reporting year filed with the U.S. Department of Education.

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal Clery Act source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.