Terms of Use
These terms govern your use of PlainCampus, a directory of US campus-safety data compiled from the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) Campus Safety Survey and IPEDS — federal disclosures mandated by the Clery Act of November 1990. By using the site you accept the conditions below.
Acceptance of Terms
By accessing PlainCampus (plaincampus.com), you agree to these terms of use. If you do not agree, please do not use our service.
Use of Data
Campus safety data on PlainCampus is sourced from the US Department of Education's OPE Campus Safety Survey and IPEDS, both public government databases. This data is provided for informational purposes only.
You may use our data for:
- Personal research and education
- Journalistic or academic reporting (with attribution to PlainCampus and the original US Department of Education source)
- Non-commercial analysis
You may not:
- Systematically scrape or copy our database for commercial purposes
- Republish our data without attribution
- Use our data in ways that misrepresent or defame specific institutions
Data Accuracy Disclaimer
PlainCampus presents data as reported to the US Department of Education. We do not verify or audit individual institutional reports. Data accuracy depends on the reporting institution's compliance with Clery Act requirements.
Campus safety data is one factor in evaluating a school. Lower crime counts may reflect underreporting rather than a safer environment. We strongly recommend consulting multiple sources, including each school's official Annual Security Report (ASR), before making enrollment decisions.
No Professional Advice
PlainCampus does not provide legal, security, or safety advice. Our data is for informational purposes only. Do not rely solely on this data when making safety-related decisions.
Intellectual Property
The PlainCampus website design, interface, and editorial content (guides, commentary) are our intellectual property. The underlying government data is in the public domain. Our original safety scores, rankings methodology, and aggregations are proprietary.
Limitations of Liability
PlainCampus provides this service "as is" without warranties. We are not liable for decisions made based on information presented on this site. Our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.
Advertising
PlainCampus is supported by advertising. We use Google AdSense. Advertisers do not influence our data presentation or editorial content.
Changes to Terms
We may update these terms. Continued use of PlainCampus after changes constitutes acceptance of the new terms.
Governing Law
These terms are governed by the laws of the United States.
Contact
Questions about these terms? Email hello@plaincampus.com.
Data Accuracy and Verification
PlainCampus aggregates and reformats information that originates from public government agencies, regulatory filings, and other openly available sources. While we take reasonable steps to ingest, normalize, and refresh this data, upstream records may contain clerical errors, lag behind real-world changes, or omit relevant context. You are solely responsible for verifying any fact that influences a legal, medical, financial, educational, safety, or similarly consequential decision. Cross-reference the official source before acting on anything you read here.
Acceptable Use
You may browse, read, and share PlainCampus content for personal, journalistic, academic, and non-commercial research use. You may cite specific records with attribution and a link back to the page on plaincampus.com. You may not (a) systematically scrape, crawl, or download the dataset in bulk without prior written permission; (b) resell, sublicense, or redistribute derived data products that compete with PlainCampus; (c) use our pages to harass, defame, or misrepresent any individual or organization appearing in the data; (d) remove, obscure, or mislabel source attribution; or (e) attempt to bypass rate limits, security controls, or authentication mechanisms.
Plain-Language Editorial Role
PlainCampus combines raw public data with plain-language summaries, explainers, and comparisons. Narrative sections are drafted by our editorial team from official source data and reviewed for accuracy before publication. We do not modify the underlying numbers or filings — those are loaded directly from the upstream source. If you spot a summary that misreads the data, please email the correction link on our contact page.
Intellectual Property
The underlying public records surfaced on PlainCampus are in the public domain or otherwise freely licensed by the issuing agency — you are free to use those raw facts. However, our site design, layout, navigation structure, original editorial copy, category taxonomies, comparison tables, and curated rankings are the copyrighted work of Kiznis Studio. These creative elements may not be reproduced in whole or substantial part without permission.
Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms of Use from time to time to reflect changes in our data sources, product features, legal environment, or advertising relationships. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and — when appropriate — surface a brief notice on the homepage. Continued use of the site after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. We encourage you to revisit this page periodically.
Governing Law and Disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the jurisdiction in which Kiznis Studio is domiciled, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising from or relating to your use of PlainCampus will first be addressed through good-faith informal negotiation. If that fails, both parties agree to resolve the dispute in the courts with jurisdiction over Kiznis Studio's principal place of business. Nothing in these terms limits your statutory consumer-protection rights under applicable local law.
Legal Notices
For formal legal notices, DMCA takedown requests, subpoenas, law-enforcement requests, or correspondence regarding these terms, email legal@plaincampus.com. General questions, data corrections, and feedback should use the contact page so they reach the editorial team promptly.