April 29, 2020
Oakland University is the third-safest college campus in the nation, and the safest in Michigan, according to a new study by YourLocalSecurity.com. The rankings are based on several factors, including hate crime, property crime, violent crime and violence against women.
The website reported that Oakland “experiences only 0.61 violent crimes per 10,000 people and 3.67 property crimes per 10,000 people. Its overall crime score is 6.42, which is one of the lowest on the list.”
The data was taken from the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety and Security survey and the FBI’s 2018 Uniform Crime Report. The study looked at public, private, and non-profit institutions with a minimum of 5,000 students offering two-or four-year degrees.
“The police department is very proud of the working relationships that have been established with community members,” said OU Police Chief Mark Gordon. “We feel that our efforts to encourage people to report suspicious activity have had a positive impact on overall safety at Oakland. By having community members and the police partner together, we create a much safer environment for everyone.”
Brigham Young University-Idaho and Eastern Illinois University were the only two schools ranked ahead of Oakland in the national survey. In addition, Northern Michigan University, in the state’s Upper Peninsula, was ranked 18th out of 25 schools on the list.
The study also notes that “Oakland University offers something we haven’t seen much elsewhere: a direct link to the state’s sex offender registry on its website — a smart move for an organization that fosters on-campus living and social situations that involve strangers mingling.”
This is not the first time that Oakland has been ranked among the country’s safest college campuses. The university was ranked 10th on YourLocalSecurity.com’s 2019 list of the safest college campuses in America, garnering praise for the high level of transparency found in its safety reports. The National Council for Home Safety and Security ranked Oakland second on its list of the Top 100 Safest College Campuses in America for 2018.
YourLocalSecurity.com, an ADT authorized provider and partner of SafeStreets, provides the security tools and information needed to build a safer home environment.