It’s Safer To Attend College in Montana, According to Study

When moms, dads and guardians send their kiddos away to college, it's natural to be worried about their safety and well-being, right? If your kid is looking at schools for next year, check out the top 27 most dangerous college campuses in 2023 as we start another school year.

How do Montana schools, specifically the larger ones like the University of Montana in Missoula and Montana State University in Bozeman, compare?

The study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, and curated by Degree Choices, tallied violent crime reportings such as murder, manslaughter, rape, arson, burglary and robbery across U.S. campuses from 2019-2021.

The top 5 most dangerous college campuses

Most schools among the top 27 were nowhere close to Montana or the Northwest. The only school within a 10-hour drive of Missoula was the University of Washington, ranked 26th. Washington had 80 violent crimes during the 3-year stretch. That number isn't remotely close to the most dangerous college in America - the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Michigan which had 1,468 violent crimes reported over 3 years. The next closest was Ohio State University in Columbus with 583 violent crime reports.

The University of California-Berkeley had 242, Xavier University reported 240 and the University of Iowa had 225 reports.

Many of the schools listed above appeared on the "most dangerous campuses per 100,000 students" list, as well, but Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Central Danville Campus in Maryland topped that list with 10,430 violent crimes per 100,000 students.

Alarming trends

Rape reports counted for 60 percent of violent crimes reported across all universities and colleges. Plus, that doesn't account for the number of sexual assault cases that go unreported. The article goes on to say only 20 percent of sexual assault victims in college report it.

Another alarming trend is attacks on medical students or professionals on campus jumped up 63% from 2011 to 2018.

Where do Montana and Montana State fit in?

Both major universities in Missoula and Bozeman rank low on these lists. Montana State has only 2.21 violent crimes per 1,000 students and the University of Montana has 4.25 violent crimes per 1,000 students.

Bozeman had more crimes overall but also a higher enrollment.

Other schools

It does still occur in our universities, so don't think it's perfect, but compared to some of the larger schools, like Michigan, Ohio State and Texas A&M,  Montana and Montana State are safer overall.

Please report a crime when it occurs, too.