Crime and Safety in Schools and on College Campuses

 

The annual Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety, jointly produced by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice, highlights new data on active shooter incidents and deaths, student victimization, bullying, students carrying weapons, mental health services offered in schools, as well as other safety and security measures, and on-campus criminal incidents at postsecondary institutions, including hate crimes. This year's report includes key findings on active shooter incidents and the possession of firearms at school, both by students and security staff. For example: From 2000 through 2022, there were 50 active shooter incidents documented in elementary and secondary schools, including 4 incidents in 2022. At postsecondary institutions, there were 18 active shooter incidents documented from 2000 through 2022, with none documented in 2022. Different data sources—which measure different phenomena—provide information on various dimensions of student weapons possession at elementary and secondary schools: The percentage of students in grades 9–12 who reported carrying a weapon (such as a gun, knife, or club) on school property at least 1 day during the previous 30 days decreased from 5 percent in 2011 to 3 percent in 2021. During the 2021–22 school year, public schools reported 10 firearm possessions per 100,000 students, which was higher than in any other school year over the previous decade (ranging from 2 to 7 possessions per 100,000 students). The percentage of public schools that reported having sworn law enforcement officers who routinely carried a firearm was lower in 2021–22 than in 2019–20 (45 vs. 51 percent). In recent years, reported incidents related to several crime and safety issues have become less prevalent at the elementary/secondary and postsecondary level when compared with about a decade earlier. The percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied during school was lower in 2021–22 than in 2010–11 (19 vs. 28 percent), although there was no consistent trend throughout the period. The total nonfatal criminal victimization rate at school for students ages 12–18 decreased between 2012 and 2022 (from 52 to 22 victimizations per 1,000 students), though the rate was higher in 2022 than in 2021 (7 victimizations per 1,000 students). The overall rate of crimes reported on campuses of postsecondary institutions per 10,000 full-time equivalent students enrolled was 16 percent lower in 2021 (16.9) than in 2011 (20.0) but showed no consistent trend for this period. The number of reported on-campus hate crimes was 12 percent lower in 2021 (667 incidents) than in 2011 (761 incidents). In 2021, race, sexual orientation, and religion were the three most commonly reported categories of bias motivating these hate crimes, accounting for 81 percent of all reported hate crimes. Browse individual indicators as part of the Condition of Education  Download, view and print the summary report as a pdf file.  (3524KB)