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When you really sit back and think about it, with the amount of drinking and drug use that takes place on your average college campus, it’s a miracle that there isn’t more crime.
Not that college campuses don’t still have their fair share of folks breaking the law. They do, as this new study more than attests.
But at which colleges are arrests for drug and alcohol offenses most likely to happen, at least based on past history?
The folks over at ProjectKnow crunched the numbers and performed a very in-depth analysis of colleges all over the country revealing which schools and states have the most on-campus arrests.
They analyzed the latest data from the U.S Department of Education to see which states use law enforcement to curb illegal substance use among students.
Here’s what they learned…
• Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania had the highest rate of arrests on campus with over 29 per 1,000 students.
• Penn State was also among the top five, and Pennsylvania in general had 11 schools represented in the top 25.
• The most extreme single-year surge in arrests was the University of North Georgia, who suspended Greek life organizations for alcohol and hazing concerns in 2018.
• The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and Northeastern University tied for the largest decrease in arrests.
• Among the top five schools for drug and alcohol offenses, more than 1 in 10 students faced disciplinary action.
• Western Oregon University doubled their totals from 2015 to 2016.
• Plymouth State University led all other universities for drug and alcohol offenses after three of the school’s students were stabbed in 2016.
• The nationwide rate of drug and alcohol arrests on campus exceeded three arrests per 1,000 students, with a high of 17 arrests per 1,000 students in Wyoming.
• Other primarily rural states like South Dakota, West Virginia were near the top of the list as well. Even the Mountaineers’ mascot was arrested for drunk driving in 2017.
• The Midwest dominates when it comes to on-campus drug and alcohol arrests, nearly double that of the East or West Coast.
• Per capita arrest rates for drug- and alcohol-related offenses remained relatively low throughout much of the South and the West Coast.
• Colder-weather locations such as Alaska, Vermont, and Maine topped the list for reduced arrest rates.
• Washington D.C had the largest percent increase in on-campus arrests over time, with a 63% rise in on-campus arrests.
• Louisiana and Wyoming each saw single-year increases of more than 20 percent, with Utah right behind them at 19 percent.
• The Northeast region was home to a more disciplinary-focused approach as opposed to law enforcement than other regions of the country.
• Schools in the South, in addition to being low on the list of recorded arrests, also recorded relatively few disciplinary actions.
To view the entire study, including the methodology involved, click here.