State profile · ME · Clery Act

Safest Colleges in Maine

Federal Clery Act filings for all 33 tracked Maine campuses, ranked by 2024 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 students. Among nonzero reporters, Southern Maine Community College currently has the lowest rate.

33
Institutions tracked
1.60
Avg campus rate / 1k (33 of 33 scored)
1.82
Statewide rate / 1k
#20
Rank by avg campus rate
81,542
Students enrolled

Among nonzero Clery reporters, Southern Maine Community College has the lowest rate in Maine

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery Act filings, across 33 tracked campuses in Maine, 17 reported zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents used in the rate; among campuses with any in those categories, Southern Maine Community College has the lowest rate at 0.13 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
33
average campus, per 1,000 (33 of 33 scored)
1.60
lowest nonzero rate - Southern Maine Community
0.13
campuses at zero in score categories
17

Data updated August 2026

Clery Act plate

Sheet ME · Maine 1.60/1k campus avg · #20/59

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

  • RATE-LOW 1.60/1k
  • RANK-UPPER #20/59
  • PHOTO-FINISH Montana · ±0.03
  • ZERO-MIX 52% zero
  • WT-LARGE-HOT Δ −0.22
  • BOOK-FULL 33/33
  • CONC-MID top5 51%

Nearest campus-rate peer: Montana (-0.03/1k)

Maine sheet RATE-LOW · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-MIX · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID · peer Montana. 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-LOW · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-MIX · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID. Nearest unweighted-rate peer is Montana (-0.03/1k). Among nonzero reporters inside the state, Southern Maine Community College leads at 0.13/1k. Instrument codes from this state's OPE Campus Safety sheet; compare similarly sized campuses before treating any single rate as decisive.

Maine's unweighted average campus rate sits better than 66% of scored U.S. states; inside the state, Southern Maine Community College has the lowest nonzero rate at 0.13/1k, ahead of University of Maine at Presque Isle (0.35/1k); York County Community College (0.53/1k). The five largest campuses still hold 51% of enrolled students, so enrollment weight and campus-average rank can diverge.

Campus-rate neighbourhood around Maine

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

per 1,000 students

What this shows Neighbourhood of scored states around Maine's 1.60/1k 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 Maine, ranked by reported rate

Ranked from the lowest 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate upward, counting only the 16 Maine 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.

13
Bates CollegeLewiston · 1,760 students
Enrollment
1,760
Incidents /1k
6.25
15
Bowdoin CollegeBrunswick · 1,881 students
Enrollment
1,881
Incidents /1k
6.91
16
Colby CollegeWaterville · 2,412 students
Enrollment
2,412
Incidents /1k
9.12
#CampusEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1Southern Maine Community CollegeSouth Portland · 7,900 students7,9000.134% of the leader · rank #1
2University of Maine at Presque IslePresque Isle · 2,873 students2,8730.354% of the leader · rank #2
3York County Community CollegeWells · 1,875 students1,8750.536% of the leader · rank #3
4Eastern Maine Community CollegeBangor · 2,719 students2,7191.4716% of the leader · rank #4
5Central Maine Community CollegeAuburn · 4,754 students4,7541.4716% of the leader · rank #5
6University of New EnglandBiddeford · 6,573 students6,5731.5217% of the leader · rank #6
7University of MaineOrono · 12,029 students12,0292.0823% of the leader · rank #7
8Husson UniversityBangor · 3,367 students3,3672.0823% of the leader · rank #8
9College of the AtlanticBar Harbor · 358 students3582.7931% of the leader · rank #9
10University of Southern MainePortland · 7,604 students7,6043.0233% of the leader · rank #10
11Saint Joseph's College of MaineStandish · 1,454 students1,4544.1345% of the leader · rank #11
12Maine College of Art & DesignPortland · 475 students4754.2146% of the leader · rank #12
13Bates CollegeLewiston · 1,760 students1,7606.2569% of the leader · rank #13
14University of Maine at FarmingtonFarmington · 2,100 students2,1006.6773% of the leader · rank #14
15Bowdoin CollegeBrunswick · 1,881 students1,8816.9176% of the leader · rank #15
16Colby CollegeWaterville · 2,412 students2,4129.12100% of the leader · rank #16

Unranked campuses (17): zero score or no normalized rate

17 filed zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents in the score categories; other Clery tables can still contain reports. Neither group supports a safety ordering, so these campuses are listed alphabetically without positions. Showing 15 alphabetically; the remaining 2 stay out of this HTML table so large states stay crawlable.

Thomas CollegeWaterville · 1,635 students
Enrollment
1,635
Incidents /1k
0.00
#CampusEnrollmentIncidents /1k
Beal UniversityBangor · 504 students5040.00
Capilo School of Hair DesignAugusta · 156 students1560.00
Empire Beauty School-MainePortland · 117 students1170.00
Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual ArtsPortland · 99 students990.00
Kennebec Valley Community CollegeFairfield · 2,489 students2,4890.00
Maine College of Health ProfessionsLewiston · 239 students2390.00
Maine Maritime AcademyCastine · 971 students9710.00
Maine Media CollegeRockport · 42 students420.00
Northeast Technical InstituteScarborough · 74 students740.00
Northern Maine Community CollegePresque Isle · 843 students8430.00
Spa Tech Institute-WestbrookWestbrook · 263 students2630.00
The Landing SchoolArundel · 32 students320.00
Thomas CollegeWaterville · 1,635 students1,6350.00
Unity Environmental UniversityNew Gloucester · 7,165 students7,1650.00
University of Maine at AugustaAugusta · 4,412 students4,4120.00

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

The largest universities in Maine by enrollment

Enrollment leaders: University of Maine (12,029); Southern Maine Community College (7,900); University of Southern Maine (7,604), then 30 more. The 15 biggest Maine 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 51% of the 81,542 students enrolled across all 33 tracked Maine institutions. Mid-pack by size sits near Thomas College (1,635 students, 0.00/1k).

12
Colby CollegeWaterville · 2,412 students
Enrollment
2,412
Incidents /1k
9.12
14
Bowdoin CollegeBrunswick · 1,881 students
Enrollment
1,881
Incidents /1k
6.91
#InstitutionEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1University of MaineOrono · 12,029 students12,029100% of the leader · rank #12.08
2Southern Maine Community CollegeSouth Portland · 7,900 students7,90066% of the leader · rank #20.13
3University of Southern MainePortland · 7,604 students7,60463% of the leader · rank #33.02
4Unity Environmental UniversityNew Gloucester · 7,165 students7,16560% of the leader · rank #40.00
5University of New EnglandBiddeford · 6,573 students6,57355% of the leader · rank #51.52
6Central Maine Community CollegeAuburn · 4,754 students4,75440% of the leader · rank #61.47
7University of Maine at AugustaAugusta · 4,412 students4,41237% of the leader · rank #70.00
8Husson UniversityBangor · 3,367 students3,36728% of the leader · rank #82.08
9University of Maine at Presque IslePresque Isle · 2,873 students2,87324% of the leader · rank #90.35
10Eastern Maine Community CollegeBangor · 2,719 students2,71923% of the leader · rank #101.47
11Kennebec Valley Community CollegeFairfield · 2,489 students2,48921% of the leader · rank #110.00
12Colby CollegeWaterville · 2,412 students2,41220% of the leader · rank #129.12
13University of Maine at FarmingtonFarmington · 2,100 students2,10017% of the leader · rank #136.67
14Bowdoin CollegeBrunswick · 1,881 students1,88116% of the leader · rank #146.91
15York County Community CollegeWells · 1,875 students1,87516% of the leader · rank #150.53

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 Maine: closest on tracked campus count (33 here) and closest on unweighted average 2024 Clery rate (1.60/1k 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: Montana sits nearest on unweighted campus average (-0.03/1k). Inside Maine, open Southern Maine Community College's campus sheet next.

Southern Maine Community College profile → | All states → | Maine net price → | Incident tool → | Methodology →

Maine campus safety FAQ

What are the safest colleges in Maine?

Among Maine campuses that reported at least one 2024 Criminal Offense or VAWA incident in the Clery categories used here, Southern Maine Community College has the lowest rate (0.13 per 1,000 students). Next among nonzero reporters: University of Maine at Presque Isle (0.35/1k); York County Community College (0.53/1k). 17 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 Maine?

In Maine, campuses with any 2024 Criminal Offenses or VAWA incidents in the score categories are ordered by incidents per 1,000 students - Southern Maine Community College currently leads that nonzero list at 0.13/1k. Zero-report and unscored campuses stay unranked and alphabetical. See /methodology for the full rate definition.

How many colleges in Maine are compared?

This page covers 33 tracked higher-education institutions in Maine, serving about 81,542 enrolled students combined across 24 cities. 16 carry a ranked nonzero rate; 17 are listed without a safety ordinal. By enrollment the largest are University of Maine (12,029); Southern Maine Community College (7,900); University of Southern Maine (7,604). Nearby state averages for context: Montana (1.57/1k); Oklahoma (1.64/1k); Georgia (1.66/1k); U.S. Virgin Islands (1.67/1k); Alabama (1.70/1k); Connecticut (1.48/1k).

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.