4 Of the Most Dangerous College Campuses In America Are in California

When your child goes off to live on their own for the first time, it’s perfectly normal to worry. It’s also perfectly normal for you to hope they pick a school close to home. 

For whatever reason, your child decided against Boise State. The University of Idaho didn’t really interest them either. They wanted to spread their wings a little and chose a school in the Golden State. 

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Academics wise, that’s a great decision. At least three of California’s major universities rank in the top 25 on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best National Universities” list. Unfortunately, several of the schools also found themselves on Degree Choices’s list of the “27 Most Dangerous College Campuses.” In order to put together their list, Degree Choices shuffled through the U.S. Department of Education’s data for violent crimes committed on campus at public, private and nonprofit colleges with at least 500 students. The most recent data available covers a three year period between 2019-2021. 

What is a Violent Crime?

We touched upon this when we broke down the most violent cities in Idaho. By definition, violent crime includes murder/non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. When they crunched the numbers, four well known California colleges ranked high on the list of most dangerous college campuses in the United States. 

Which California Campuses Made the List? What Crimes Were Committed There?

#22 University of California-San Diego

The good news for parents with students at UC San Diego is that they didn’t have any murders, non-negligent manslaughter or negligent manslaughter committed on campus between 2019-2021. Unfortunately, there were 62 rapes, 21 aggravated assaults and two robberies reported.

#11 University of Southern California - University Park

Like UC San Diego, there were no murders or manslaughter reported on USC’s main campus. However, there were 67 rapes, 23 robberies and 21 aggravated assaults reported between 2019-2021. 

#8 Stanford

Stanford’s considered quite prestigious, but that doesn’t mean that its main campus is without violent crime. While there may not have been any murder or manslaughter reported on campus, the school still dealt with 81 rapes, 50 robberies and seven robberies between 2019-2021.

#3 University of California-Berkeley

Of every California college that ended up on this list, the University of California’s main campus ranked the highest and that’s not a place you want to be. A murder or non-negligent manslaughter was reported on campus in 2019. The school also reported 114 aggravated assaults, 73 rapes and 54 robberies between 2019-2021.

Where do Idaho’s Colleges Stack Up?

Degree Choices didn’t make their entire list available but did link to the U.S. Department of Education’s easy-to-search database. We combed through the Idaho campuses with 500 students or more for the same time period that the initial study looked at. These are Idaho’s most dangerous campuses based on the number of violent crimes reported. 

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Parents and students alike should take comfort in knowing that over a three-year period, these numbers are very low compared to any of the schools that made the nationwide Top 27 list. However, they’re not 0 either. If you live, work or go to class on a college campus, always be alert.