College crime statistics now available on Web

In this story: 'What Jeanne didn't know cost her her life' Data on 3,380 schools Reliability of data questioned RELATED STORIES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Gauging the safety of a college just got a little easier. For the first time, students, parents and the public can log on to find and compare crime statistics from U.S. college campuses.

MESSAGE BOARD Violence in America    VIDEO The University of California at Berkeley has made statistics available already. CNN's Jennifer Auther reports Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Today is the deadline for the nation's 6,700 public and private colleges that receive federal money to report campus crime statistics to the U.S. Department of Education. The agency is posting three years of crime figures through 1999 on its Web site, http://www.ope.ed.gov./security/search.asp.

The 1986 rape and murder of a student at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is largely responsible for the Web site.

Jeanne Clery, 19, was attacked by Joseph M. Henry, a fellow student who entered Clery's dorm through security doors propped open by pizza boxes. He was convicted in her murder and sentenced to death.

Jeanne Clery

After their daughter's slaying, Connie and Howard Clery learned that 38 violent crimes at the college had not been made public in the three years before her death. "What we didn't know and what Jeanne didn't know cost her her life," Connie Clery told CNN's David Mattingly. "And that's why we've been fighting for 13 years to see that other parents would know."

The Clerys started a nonprofit group called Security on Campus Inc., which lobbied the U.S. Congress for passage of six federal campus crime laws, including the 1990 Jeanne Clery Act. The original law required colleges to compile annual reports of campus crimes, but it left several loopholes regarding the way colleges reported crimes. The rules were toughened and now schools face a $25,000 fine for each unreported crime.

By last week, the federal Web site contained data for 3,380 schools. A sampling of the figures posted shows that many colleges cited cases of burglary, assault and sexual offenses in 1999.

At California State University, Northridge, there are 23 campus police officers whose legal authority extends one mile from campus

For example, thefts top the crime list for California State University, Northridge, near Los Angeles. The school reports 202 thefts in 1999, down from 366 in 1998. Sex offenses have stayed in single digits for each of the past three years, according to the data filed. CNN's Jennifer Auther reports that the school has added security officers, self-defense classes and increased lighting and emergency phones on campus to improve student safety.

In another example, the Denver Post reports that burglary is the most frequent crime listed by the Colorado colleges that have posted data.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that in 1999 Georgia Tech in Atlanta saw one sex crime, seven robberies, 35 car thefts and 106 burglaries, while a smaller school, Agnes Scott College in nearby Decatur, Georgia, reported just seven major offenses last year.

Supporters of the law are concerned about the accuracy of the data. Mattingly reports that, in the past seven years, the Department of Education has found 367 problems in the way colleges report statistics.

California State University, Northridge, has budgeted money for self-defense classes

Some colleges were not counting crimes if they had not been reported to the college security office, according to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania.

For example, Mattingly says, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia reported just 18 of 204 campus robberies because under a loophole in the law, schools were able to omit crimes that took place on city streets and sidewalks even if they were on college property. Changes to the law that went into effect July 1 have closed this loophole.

College security officials caution against using statistics alone to gauge a college's safety record. Ron Seacrist, the director of public safety at California State University, Northridge, suggests students and parents pay attention to the location of a campus and the kinds of security programs in place to protect students.

CNN correspondents David Mattingly and Jennifer Auther and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Two Naval Academy football players charged with rape
July 3, 2000
University of Massachusetts rallies against campus attacks
November 24, 1999

U.S. Department of Education
Lehigh University
Security On Campus, Inc. Campus Crime Prevention Resources
California State University, Northridge
Georgia Institute of Technology
Agnes Scott College

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.