State profile · MD · Clery Act

Safest Colleges in Maryland

Federal Clery Act filings for all 72 tracked Maryland campuses, ranked by 2024 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 students. Among nonzero reporters, Howard Community College currently has the lowest rate.

72
Institutions tracked
2.65
Avg campus rate / 1k (71 of 72 scored)
4.37
Statewide rate / 1k
#46
Rank by avg campus rate
352,744
Students enrolled

Among nonzero Clery reporters, Howard Community College has the lowest rate in Maryland

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery Act filings, across 72 tracked campuses in Maryland, 35 reported zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents used in the rate; among campuses with any in those categories, Howard Community College has the lowest rate at 0.23 per 1,000 students. This comparison excludes other Clery tables and unreported harm, so review the details before drawing a safety conclusion.

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

campuses tracked
72
average campus, per 1,000 (71 of 72 scored)
2.65
lowest nonzero rate - Howard Community College
0.23
campuses at zero in score categories
35

Data updated August 2026

Clery Act plate

Sheet MD · Maryland 2.65/1k campus avg · #46/59

RATE-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-MIX · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID

  • RATE-MID 2.65/1k
  • RANK-LOWER #46/59
  • PHOTO-FINISH Texas · ±0.06
  • ZERO-MIX 49% zero
  • WT-LARGE-HOT Δ −1.72
  • BOOK-FULL 71/72
  • CONC-MID top5 49%

Nearest campus-rate peer: Texas (-0.06/1k)

Maryland sheet RATE-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-MIX · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID · peer Texas. Codes from this state’s OPE Campus Safety filing: unweighted campus rate, corpus rank (low = safer), photo-finish peer state, zero-report share, campus-vs-weighted gap, scored book, top-five enrollment concentration. Not a moving recommendation.

Clery plate RATE-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-MIX · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID. Nearest unweighted-rate peer is Texas (-0.06/1k). Among nonzero reporters inside the state, Howard Community College leads at 0.23/1k. Instrument codes from this state's OPE Campus Safety sheet; compare similarly sized campuses before treating any single rate as decisive.

Maryland's unweighted average campus rate is higher than most scored U.S. states (only 22% of states report a higher average). Even so, Howard Community College leads nonzero reporters here at 0.23/1k, with Anne Arundel Community College (0.44/1k); Community College of Baltimore County (0.55/1k) next. The five largest campuses account for 49% of enrollment, weigh large-campus rates separately from small ones.

Campus-rate neighbourhood around Maryland

Lowest/highest poles plus states nearest Maryland on unweighted average campus Clery rate. Full ladder: /rankings/.

per 1,000 students

What this shows Neighbourhood of scored states around Maryland's 2.65/1k unweighted campus average, not a full 50-state board reprint.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey (Clery Act) As of 2024

Safest colleges in Maryland, ranked by reported rate

Ranked from the lowest 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate upward, counting only the 36 Maryland campuses with at least one incident in those score categories. Positions are numbered within that group, because a rank counted through the zero-score campuses below would order them by nothing.

8
Hood CollegeFrederick · 2,101 students
Enrollment
2,101
Incidents /1k
0.95
14
Goucher CollegeBaltimore · 1,459 students
Enrollment
1,459
Incidents /1k
2.06
#CampusEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1Howard Community CollegeColumbia · 8,643 students8,6430.234% of the leader · rank #1
2Anne Arundel Community CollegeArnold · 11,481 students11,4810.444% of the leader · rank #2
3Community College of Baltimore CountyBaltimore · 16,451 students16,4510.554% of the leader · rank #3
4Hagerstown Community CollegeHagerstown · 5,085 students5,0850.594% of the leader · rank #4
5Carroll Community CollegeWestminster · 3,337 students3,3370.604% of the leader · rank #5
6Prince George's Community CollegeLargo · 11,473 students11,4730.614% of the leader · rank #6
7Montgomery CollegeRockville · 18,835 students18,8350.644% of the leader · rank #7
8Hood CollegeFrederick · 2,101 students2,1010.954% of the leader · rank #8
9Harford Community CollegeBel Air · 5,067 students5,0670.994% of the leader · rank #9
10Garrett CollegeMchenry · 679 students6791.475% of the leader · rank #10
11University of BaltimoreBaltimore · 3,187 students3,1871.575% of the leader · rank #11
12University of Maryland, BaltimoreBaltimore · 6,636 students6,6361.665% of the leader · rank #12
13Wor-Wic Community CollegeSalisbury · 2,941 students2,9411.705% of the leader · rank #13
14Goucher CollegeBaltimore · 1,459 students1,4592.067% of the leader · rank #14
15Towson UniversityTowson · 19,401 students19,4013.0410% of the leader · rank #15
16Allegany College of MarylandCumberland · 2,762 students2,7623.2610% of the leader · rank #16
17Stevenson UniversityOwings Mills · 3,684 students3,6843.8012% of the leader · rank #17
18Notre Dame of Maryland UniversityBaltimore · 1,788 students1,7883.9213% of the leader · rank #18
19McDaniel CollegeWestminster · 2,868 students2,8684.8816% of the leader · rank #19
20Loyola University MarylandBaltimore · 4,897 students4,8974.9016% of the leader · rank #20
21Washington CollegeChestertown · 923 students9235.4217% of the leader · rank #21
22Coppin State UniversityBaltimore · 2,210 students2,2105.4317% of the leader · rank #22
23Frostburg State UniversityFrostburg · 4,104 students4,1045.6018% of the leader · rank #23
24University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi · 63,012 students63,0125.6818% of the leader · rank #24
25Morgan State UniversityBaltimore · 10,739 students10,7395.7718% of the leader · rank #25
26Salisbury UniversitySalisbury · 7,025 students7,0255.8419% of the leader · rank #26
27University of Maryland-Baltimore CountyBaltimore · 13,906 students13,9066.1120% of the leader · rank #27
28Maryland Institute College of ArtBaltimore · 1,687 students1,6876.5221% of the leader · rank #28
29St. John's CollegeAnnapolis · 583 students5836.8622% of the leader · rank #29
30Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore · 30,210 students30,2107.3824% of the leader · rank #30
31University of Maryland-College ParkCollege Park · 41,725 students41,7258.5827% of the leader · rank #31
32Mount St. Mary's UniversityEmmitsburg · 2,408 students2,4089.1429% of the leader · rank #32
33Bowie State UniversityBowie · 6,353 students6,3539.9232% of the leader · rank #33
34University of Maryland Eastern ShorePrincess Anne · 3,177 students3,17715.1148% of the leader · rank #34
35St. Mary's College of MarylandSt. Mary'S City · 1,630 students1,63015.9551% of the leader · rank #35
36Del-Mar-Va Beauty AcademySalisbury · 32 students3231.25100% of the leader · rank #36

Unranked campuses (36): zero score or no normalized rate

35 filed zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents in the score categories; other Clery tables can still contain reports. 1 lack a normalized rate because no positive enrollment denominator is available. Neither group supports a safety ordering, so these campuses are listed alphabetically without positions. Showing 15 alphabetically; the remaining 21 stay out of this HTML table so large states stay crawlable.

Cecil CollegeNorth East · 1,749 students
Enrollment
1,749
Incidents /1k
0.00
#CampusEnrollmentIncidents /1k
All-State Career-BaltimoreBaltimore · 563 students5630.00
Aspen Beauty Academy of LaurelLaurel · 118 students1180.00
Aveda Institute-MarylandBel Air · 77 students770.00
Award Beauty SchoolHagerstown · 94 students940.00
Bais HaMedrash and Mesivta of BaltimoreBaltimore · 87 students870.00
Baltimore Beauty & Barber School IITimonium · 101 students1010.00
Baltimore City Community CollegeBaltimore · 4,375 students4,3750.00
Baltimore Studio of Hair DesignBaltimore · 34 students340.00
Capitol Technology UniversityLaurel · 1,065 students1,0650.00
Cecil CollegeNorth East · 1,749 students1,7490.00
Chesapeake CollegeWye Mills · 2,095 students2,0950.00
College of Southern MarylandLa Plata · 5,062 students5,0620.00
Cortiva InstituteLinthicum · 225 students2250.00
Empire Beauty School-Glen BurnieGlen Burnie · 77 students770.00
Empire Beauty School-Owings MillsOwings Mills · 121 students1210.00

Open any remaining campus from the school directory or the incident tool.

The largest universities in Maryland by enrollment

Enrollment leaders: University of Maryland Global Campus (63,012); University of Maryland-College Park (41,725); Johns Hopkins University (30,210), then 68 more. The 15 biggest Maryland institutions by total enrolled students, from the same federal IPEDS collection, each shown with its 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate. The five largest alone account for 49% of the 352,744 students enrolled across all 71 tracked Maryland institutions. Mid-pack by size sits near St. Mary's College of Maryland (1,630 students, 15.95/1k).

#InstitutionEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi · 63,012 students63,012100% of the leader · rank #15.68
2University of Maryland-College ParkCollege Park · 41,725 students41,72566% of the leader · rank #28.58
3Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore · 30,210 students30,21048% of the leader · rank #37.38
4Towson UniversityTowson · 19,401 students19,40131% of the leader · rank #43.04
5Montgomery CollegeRockville · 18,835 students18,83530% of the leader · rank #50.64
6Community College of Baltimore CountyBaltimore · 16,451 students16,45126% of the leader · rank #60.55
7University of Maryland-Baltimore CountyBaltimore · 13,906 students13,90622% of the leader · rank #76.11
8Anne Arundel Community CollegeArnold · 11,481 students11,48118% of the leader · rank #80.44
9Prince George's Community CollegeLargo · 11,473 students11,47318% of the leader · rank #90.61
10Morgan State UniversityBaltimore · 10,739 students10,73917% of the leader · rank #105.77
11Howard Community CollegeColumbia · 8,643 students8,64314% of the leader · rank #110.23
12Frederick Community CollegeFrederick · 7,293 students7,29312% of the leader · rank #120.00
13Salisbury UniversitySalisbury · 7,025 students7,02511% of the leader · rank #135.84
14University of Maryland, BaltimoreBaltimore · 6,636 students6,63611% of the leader · rank #141.66
15Bowie State UniversityBowie · 6,353 students6,35310% of the leader · rank #159.92

Enrollment is total reported students, not full-time equivalent, and a branch campus is reported separately from its parent institution. A larger campus is not a less safe one: the incident rate beside it is already per 1,000 students.

Nationwide states with similar campus scale or Clery rate

Two nationwide peer sets for Maryland: closest on tracked campus count (72 here) and closest on unweighted average 2024 Clery rate (2.65/1k here). The rate-neighbourhood and keep-peer blocks above stay geo-adjacent; these columns are cross-state ABS comparisons with deduped link sets.

Similar campus count

Nearest other states by number of tracked postsecondary institutions (≥5 scored campuses in corpus).

Similar campus Clery rate

Nearest other states by unweighted average on-campus Clery rate. Campus-count peers above are excluded.

Read with this state

Keep-peer handoff: Texas sits nearest on unweighted campus average (-0.06/1k). Inside Maryland, open Howard Community College's campus sheet next.

Howard Community College profile → | All states → | Maryland net price → | Incident tool → | Methodology →

Maryland campus safety FAQ

What are the safest colleges in Maryland?

Among Maryland campuses that reported at least one 2024 Criminal Offense or VAWA incident in the Clery categories used here, Howard Community College has the lowest rate (0.23 per 1,000 students). Next among nonzero reporters: Anne Arundel Community College (0.44/1k); Community College of Baltimore County (0.55/1k). 35 campuses reported zero in those score categories and are listed separately without a safety ordinal, because a zero report is not the same as a proven safer campus.

How does PlainCampus rank campus safety in Maryland?

In Maryland, campuses with any 2024 Criminal Offenses or VAWA incidents in the score categories are ordered by incidents per 1,000 students - Howard Community College currently leads that nonzero list at 0.23/1k. Zero-report and unscored campuses stay unranked and alphabetical. See /methodology for the full rate definition.

How many colleges in Maryland are compared?

This page covers 72 tracked higher-education institutions in Maryland, serving about 352,744 enrolled students combined across 37 cities. 36 carry a ranked nonzero rate; 36 are listed without a safety ordinal. By enrollment the largest are University of Maryland Global Campus (63,012); University of Maryland-College Park (41,725); Johns Hopkins University (30,210). Nearby state averages for context: Texas (2.59/1k); Hawaii (2.75/1k); Oregon (2.52/1k); Washington (2.46/1k); Massachusetts (2.43/1k); Nebraska (2.42/1k).

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.