One of the Most Dangerous College Campuses in America is in Washington

Late August and September doesn’t just mean back-to-school season for K-12 students. It’s also the time of year when college campuses come roaring back to life. 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 bit and chose the University of Washington. Great. You’re only a quick, direct flight away if your baby needs you. 

When it comes to academics, UW is a great school, but it has found itself on Degree Choices’s list of the “27 Most Dangerous College Campuses” for 2023. 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 of public, private and non-profit 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 last summer 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. 

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When they crunched the numbers, the University of Washington ranked #25 on the list of Most Dangerous College Campuses with a total of 80 violent crimes reported between 2019-2021. They also ranged #25 on the list of Most Dangerous Campuses Per 100,000 with a rate of 54. 

Which Violent Crimes Were Committed On Campus at the University of Washington?

The good news for parents with students at the University of Washington is that they didn’t have any murders, non-negligent manslaughters or negligent manslaughters committed on campus between 2019-2021. 

Unfortunately, there were 48 rapes, 16 robberies, and 16 aggravated assaults reported. 

Where do Idaho’s Colleges Stack Up?

Degree Choices didn’t make their entire available but did link to the U.S. Department of Education’s easy-to-search database. We coles 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. 

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.