State profile · ND · Clery Act

Safest Colleges in North Dakota

Federal Clery Act filings for all 25 tracked North Dakota campuses, ranked by 2024 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 students. Among nonzero reporters, Mayville State University currently has the lowest rate.

25
Institutions tracked
2.38
Avg campus rate / 1k (25 of 25 scored)
2.19
Statewide rate / 1k
#39
Rank by avg campus rate
53,821
Students enrolled

Among nonzero Clery reporters, Mayville State University has the lowest rate in North Dakota

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery Act filings, across 25 tracked campuses in North Dakota, 14 reported zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents used in the rate; among campuses with any in those categories, Mayville State University has the lowest rate at 0.88 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
25
average campus, per 1,000 (25 of 25 scored)
2.38
lowest nonzero rate - Mayville State University
0.88
campuses at zero in score categories
14

Data updated August 2026

Clery Act plate

Sheet ND · North Dakota 2.38/1k campus avg · #39/59

RATE-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-HEAVY

  • RATE-MID 2.38/1k
  • RANK-LOWER #39/59
  • PHOTO-FINISH American Samoa · ±0.01
  • ZERO-HEAVY 56% zero
  • WT-SMALL-HOT Δ +0.19
  • BOOK-FULL 25/25
  • CONC-HEAVY top5 71%

Nearest campus-rate peer: American Samoa (-0.01/1k)

North Dakota sheet RATE-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-HEAVY · peer American Samoa. 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-HEAVY · WT-SMALL-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-HEAVY. Nearest unweighted-rate peer is American Samoa (-0.01/1k). Among nonzero reporters inside the state, Mayville State University leads at 0.88/1k. Instrument codes from this state's OPE Campus Safety sheet; compare similarly sized campuses before treating any single rate as decisive.

Most scored campuses in North Dakota (14 of 25) reported zero in the 2024 score categories and stay unranked against each other. Among the nonzero reporters, Mayville State University leads at 0.88/1k, then Bismarck State College (0.95/1k); Dickinson State University (1.42/1k). A high zero share is a filing pattern, not a proof that campuses are safer.

Campus-rate neighbourhood around North Dakota

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

per 1,000 students

What this shows Neighbourhood of scored states around North Dakota's 2.38/1k 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 North Dakota, ranked by reported rate

Ranked from the lowest 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate upward, counting only the 11 North Dakota 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.

# Campus EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 Mayville State University Mayville · 1,134 students 1,134 0.88 4% of the leader · rank #1
2 Bismarck State College Bismarck · 4,206 students 4,206 0.95 4% of the leader · rank #2
3 Dickinson State University Dickinson · 1,410 students 1,410 1.42 4% of the leader · rank #3
4 University of Mary Bismarck · 3,861 students 3,861 1.55 4% of the leader · rank #4
5 Valley City State University Valley City · 1,806 students 1,806 1.66 5% of the leader · rank #5
6 University of North Dakota Grand Forks · 15,019 students 15,019 1.80 5% of the leader · rank #6
7 North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo · 11,952 students 11,952 2.09 6% of the leader · rank #7
8 Minot State University Minot · 2,751 students 2,751 2.54 7% of the leader · rank #8
9 North Dakota State College of Science Wahpeton · 3,367 students 3,367 3.27 9% of the leader · rank #9
10 University of Jamestown Jamestown · 1,376 students 1,376 8.72 25% of the leader · rank #10
11 United Tribes Technical College Bismarck · 576 students 576 34.72 100% of the leader · rank #11

Unranked campuses (14): zero score or no normalized rate

14 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.

# Campus EnrollmentIncidents /1k
Cankdeska Cikana Community College Fort Totten · 239 students 239 0.00
Dakota College at Bottineau Bottineau · 1,204 students 1,204 0.00
Josef's School of Hair, Skin & Body-Fargo Fargo · 72 students 72 0.00
Josef's School of Hair, Skin & Body-Grand Forks Grand Forks · 61 students 61 0.00
Lake Region State College Devils Lake · 1,897 students 1,897 0.00
Lynnes Welding Training Fargo · 55 students 55 0.00
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College New Town · 233 students 233 0.00
Rasmussen University-North Dakota Fargo · 52 students 52 0.00
Sitting Bull College Fort Yates · 309 students 309 0.00
The Hair Academy Bismarck · 65 students 65 0.00
The Salon Professional Academy-Fargo Fargo · 95 students 95 0.00
Trinity Bible College and Graduate School Ellendale · 275 students 275 0.00
Turtle Mountain Community College Belcourt · 872 students 872 0.00
Williston State College Williston · 934 students 934 0.00

The largest universities in North Dakota by enrollment

Enrollment leaders: University of North Dakota (15,019); North Dakota State University-Main Campus (11,952); Bismarck State College (4,206), then 22 more. The 15 biggest North Dakota 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 71% of the 53,821 students enrolled across all 25 tracked North Dakota institutions. Mid-pack by size sits near Williston State College (934 students, 0.00/1k).

# Institution EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 University of North Dakota Grand Forks · 15,019 students 15,019 100% of the leader · rank #1 1.80
2 North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo · 11,952 students 11,952 80% of the leader · rank #2 2.09
3 Bismarck State College Bismarck · 4,206 students 4,206 28% of the leader · rank #3 0.95
4 University of Mary Bismarck · 3,861 students 3,861 26% of the leader · rank #4 1.55
5 North Dakota State College of Science Wahpeton · 3,367 students 3,367 22% of the leader · rank #5 3.27
6 Minot State University Minot · 2,751 students 2,751 18% of the leader · rank #6 2.54
7 Lake Region State College Devils Lake · 1,897 students 1,897 13% of the leader · rank #7 0.00
8 Valley City State University Valley City · 1,806 students 1,806 12% of the leader · rank #8 1.66
9 Dickinson State University Dickinson · 1,410 students 1,410 9% of the leader · rank #9 1.42
10 University of Jamestown Jamestown · 1,376 students 1,376 9% of the leader · rank #10 8.72
11 Dakota College at Bottineau Bottineau · 1,204 students 1,204 8% of the leader · rank #11 0.00
12 Mayville State University Mayville · 1,134 students 1,134 8% of the leader · rank #12 0.88
13 Williston State College Williston · 934 students 934 6% of the leader · rank #13 0.00
14 Turtle Mountain Community College Belcourt · 872 students 872 6% of the leader · rank #14 0.00
15 United Tribes Technical College Bismarck · 576 students 576 4% of the leader · rank #15 34.72

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 North Dakota: closest on tracked campus count (25 here) and closest on unweighted average 2024 Clery rate (2.38/1k 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: American Samoa sits nearest on unweighted campus average (-0.01/1k). Inside North Dakota, open Mayville State University's campus sheet next.

Mayville State University profile → | All states → | North Dakota net price → | Incident tool → | Methodology →

North Dakota campus safety FAQ

What are the safest colleges in North Dakota?

Among North Dakota campuses that reported at least one 2024 Criminal Offense or VAWA incident in the Clery categories used here, Mayville State University has the lowest rate (0.88 per 1,000 students). Next among nonzero reporters: Bismarck State College (0.95/1k); Dickinson State University (1.42/1k). 14 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 North Dakota?

In North Dakota, campuses with any 2024 Criminal Offenses or VAWA incidents in the score categories are ordered by incidents per 1,000 students - Mayville State University currently leads that nonzero list at 0.88/1k. Zero-report and unscored campuses stay unranked and alphabetical. See /methodology for the full rate definition.

How many colleges in North Dakota are compared?

This page covers 25 tracked higher-education institutions in North Dakota, serving about 53,821 enrolled students combined across 17 cities. 11 carry a ranked nonzero rate; 14 are listed without a safety ordinal. By enrollment the largest are University of North Dakota (15,019); North Dakota State University-Main Campus (11,952); Bismarck State College (4,206). Nearby state averages for context: American Samoa (2.37/1k); Alaska (2.41/1k); Nebraska (2.42/1k); Massachusetts (2.43/1k); Wyoming (2.32/1k); Tennessee (2.31/1k).

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.