Urban Wire More Detailed Data Could Help Us Better Track Hate Crimes on College Campuses
Bryan J. Cook, Rachel Lamb
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photo of students on college campus

As campus protests over the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza dominated headlines earlier this year, the issue of hate crimes on college and university campuses became a national topic of conversation.

Since January, the US House of Representatives’ Education and Workforce Committee has held four hearings on antisemitism. In May, House Republicans passed legislation that would expand the definition of antisemitism. This month, the US Department of Education announced it would strengthen its enforcement of Title VI, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in education. These events have renewed concerns about student safety and security on college campuses that have been heightened since 2017, when a white nationalists rally at the University of Virginia exposed the rise of racist and antisemitic incidents on campuses across the US.

To contextualize the reported increase in campus-based hate crimes, we analyzed the Campus Safety and Security (CSS) data accessible via Urban’s Education Data Portal. CSS data are collected under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, which requires all colleges and universities that receive federal funding to track and report crimes on campus and within a nearby geographic area.

Passed in 1990, the Clery Act defines hate crimes as a criminal offense where the victim was intentionally selected because of the perpetrator’s bias against the victim. In 2013, the act was amended to include two new categories of bias: national origin and gender identity.

In our analysis, we found that between 2010 and 2019, the number of hate crimes on campuses stayed largely the same on average, mirroring national trends. However, CSS data don’t provide a detailed breakdown of how many hate crimes were directed toward specific racial, religious, or ethnic groups. To help better assess campus safety concerns in 2024, policymakers should consider amending CSS reporting requirements and disaggregating the data by specific demographic groups.

On average, the number of reported hate crimes on campuses decreased slightly in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic

Between 2005 and 2021, campuses collectively reported an average of 766 hate crimes per year on the CSS survey. Most reported hate crimes (83 percent) occurred on four-year campuses. This is not surprising, given these institutions typically have a larger number of students, faculty, and staff than two-year colleges. Public and private not-for-profit, four-year schools accounted for the same share of reported hate crimes (41 percent), while community colleges represented just 12 percent of reported hate crimes.

In the 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic (2010–19), the number of hate crimes reported annually on college campuses varied significantly from year to year. In 2011, there was a 22 percent decline, but 2016 saw a 26 percent increase. (We excluded 2020 and 2021 from our analysis as the drop in reported campus hate crimes in these years appear to be pandemic-related outliers).

Percentage change in the number of reported hate crimes, 2010–19
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However, on average, reported campus hate crimes declined 2 percent in the 10 years before the pandemic. The US Department of Justice’s data on hate crimes nationally show a similar trend (PDF). Despite annual variations, the average number of hate crimes reported nationally increased by just 1 percent by the end of the decade.

The most common motivating biases for hate crimes reported by colleges and universities were race (42 percent), followed by sexual orientation (21 percent), religion (14 percent), and gender/gender identity (11 percent). This pattern roughly aligns with national hate crime data, which show racial bias accounted for 58 percent of hate crimes, compared with religious bias, which represented 20 percent of hate crimes, between 2010 and 2019. Sexual orientation (18 percent) was the third-most-common hate crime bias reported.

Share of crimes reported, by motivating bias, 2010–19
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Destruction, damage or vandalism (42 percent), and intimidation (38 percent) were the most frequent types of hate crimes reported by campuses between 2005 and 2021. This suggests most campus hate crimes are nonviolent. Still, simple assaults (an assault or attempted assault involving no weapon or serious injury) were the third-most-reported type of hate crime, representing more than 1 in 10 hate crimes on campuses.

Disaggregating campus hate crime data can help paint a more nuanced picture of campus safety

Although the CSS data are one of the best sources for tracking campus-based hate crimes, they have several limitations.

Hate crime incidents are often significantly underreported. As such, hate crime statistics are often thought to represent the minimum of actual incidents.

Although national hate crime data provide a more detailed breakdown of bias toward specific racial and religious groups, the CSS data don’t. This means we couldn’t assess the frequency of hate crimes directed toward specific racial, religious, or ethnic groups on college and university campuses.

Although CSS data suggest a slight decline in reported campus hate crimes during the 10 years before the pandemic, future analysis will be needed to understand trends in reported campus hate crimes in more recent years. Tracking changes in the number of reported hate crimes on college campuses will take on increased importance as campuses deal with the fallout from the congressional hearings on antisemitism, as well as the US Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to end the use of race in college admissions and increasing attacks on campus diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

To help better assess recent campus safety concerns, policymakers should consider amending the CSS hate crime reporting requirements to include disaggregation by specific demographic groups.

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Research Areas Crime, justice, and safety
Tags Race, gender, class, and ethnicity Higher education Postsecondary education and training Crime and justice analytics
Policy Centers Center on Education Data and Policy
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