Safety on university campuses is an important selling point when choosing a school, but one Midwestern university can lay claim to the title of being America’s safest.
According to a ranking published by Academic Influence, Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus earned the top-spot, with researchers praising the school’s Crisis Intervention Teams, robust building security and a student security patrol among the factors for the high rating.
West Lafayette’s low violent crime rate also earned praise from researchers, according to the website.
Compliance with the Clery Act, which requires schools to provide transparent information about crime policy and statistics, is one of the key metrics evaluated by the research, according to officials.
Schools are also graded on the number of security officers on campus, the presence of easily-accessible blue light emergency phones, and the availability of services like escorts to parking lots, shuttles for students and mental health offices.
Crime statistics and the implementation of surveillance systems were also considered, according to the website.
Academic Influence describes itself as a "team of academics and data scientists" that aims to rank different facets of the world of higher education, "identifying and fostering what's best in higher education," according to its website.
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The University of Idaho and Brigham Young University’s Idaho campus filled the next two slots, with Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and the University of Massachusetts rounding out the top five.
Two other Midwestern schools also made the list, with Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan earning the No. 7 slot and Northern Kentucky University checking in at No. 9.
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