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2019 Cornell University Crime & Safety Report

Is Cornell University safe? On this page, we'll examine crime statistics for the college campus and surrounding areas.

What you'll find in our crime and safety report on Cornell:

Understanding the Crime Stats for Cornell

Types of Crime & Safety Incidents

We have compiled this information on crime statistics from the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Safety and Security data. The types of crimes are divided into the following categories: arrests for major crimes, arrests for possession, violence against women, and disciplinary actions.

The arrests for major crimes category includes arrests for things such as murder, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, and arson. The violence against women grouping includes things such as domestic violence, date rape, and stalking. The arrests for possession classification deals with things such as weapons possession, alcohol violations, and drug violations. The disciplinary actions category involves possession of weapons, alcohol violations, and drug violations in the cases where no arrest occurred but some action was taken.

Number of Incidents

It is not uncommon for a school to report zero incidents for any or all of these categories. In fact, 56% of the schools we cover reported no arrests for major crimes, 67% reported no violence against women, 70% reported no arrests for possession, and 68% reported no disciplinary actions.

Although zero incidents of reported crime is nice, it doesn't necessarily mean that the school is safer. It could indicate lax reporting. Similarly, a high number of incidents could indicate that the school is more strict about reporting and law enforcement than other institutions.

Cornell Overall Crime Stats

677 Total Number of Incidents
28.18 Incidents per 1000 Students
Cornell University reported 677 safety-related incidents involving students on or near campus or at other properties affiliated with the school in 2019. Since the number of students at the school that year was 24,027, that's 28.18 incidents per 1,000 students.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes841,6703.504,000.00
Arrests for Possession78800.291,352.94
Violence Against Women633342.621,000.00
Disciplinary Actions5232,67021.774,574.85

Cornell Overall Crime by Category

The percentage breakdown of Cornell crime and safety incidents by category is shown in the following chart.

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Disciplinary actions account for 77.3% of all crime and safety incidents at the school. Around 1.0% of the crime and safety-related incidents at Cornell University resulted in arrests for possession. About 12.4% of incidents were arrests for major crimes. Acts of violence against women accounted for 9.3% of incidents.

Comparison to Other Schools in the Nation

The charts below show how Cornell compares to other colleges and universities in the nation when it comes to each category of crime and safety-related incidents. Note that this does not take school size into account so larger schools are likely to have more incidents.

Arrests for Possession  (Incidents)
fewer
more
Arrests for Major Crimes  (Incidents)
fewer
more
Violence Against Women  (Incidents)
fewer
more
Disciplinary Actions  (Incidents)
fewer
more

We can factor in the size of the school and look at the incidents per thousand students as well.

Arrests for Possession  (Incidents per 1000 Students)
fewer
more
Arrests for Major Crimes  (Incidents per 1000 Students)
fewer
more
Violence Against Women  (Incidents per 1000 Students)
fewer
more
Disciplinary Actions  (Incidents per 1000 Students)
fewer
more

Cornell Overall Crime by Location

The chart below shows what percentage of Cornell crime and safety incidents happened in each location.

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Cornell On-Campus Crime Stats

651 Total Number of Incidents
27.09 Incidents per 1000 Students
Cornell University reported 651 incidents related to crime and safety in 2019. These student-involved incidents took place on campus. Based on a student body population of 24,027, that's 27.09 incidents per 1,000 students.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes791,5853.294,000.00
Arrests for Possession38130.12888.89
Violence Against Women593312.461,000.00
Disciplinary Actions5102,64521.234,544.91

Cornell On-Campus Crime by Category

The chart below shows what percentage of Cornell on-campus crime and safety incidents are in each category.

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Cornell Affiliated Off-Campus Crime Stats

15 Total Number of Incidents
0.62 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Cornell University reported 15 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on affiliated off-campus properties. Based on a student body population of 24,027, that's 0.62 incidents per 1,000 students.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes31640.12333.33
Arrests for Possession2640.08111.11
Violence Against Women31000.12194.44
Disciplinary Actions71440.29305.56

Cornell Affiliated Off-Campus Crime by Category

The chart below shows what percentage of Cornell crime and safety incidents on affiliated off-campus properties are in each category.

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Cornell Residence Hall Crime Stats

543 Total Number of Incidents
22.60 Incidents per 1000 Students
Cornell University reported 543 safety-related incidents involving students in residence halls in 2019. These counts are also included in the on-campus crimes category. Based on a student body population of 24,027, that's 22.60 incidents per 1,000 students.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes661672.75101.80
Arrests for Possession07150.00180.35
Violence Against Women341401.4253.89
Disciplinary Actions4432,50718.444,029.94

Cornell Residence Hall Crime by Category

The chart below shows what percentage of Cornell crime and safety incidents in residence halls are in each category.

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11 Total Number of Incidents
0.46 Incidents per 1000 Students
Cornell University reported 11 incidents related to crime and safety in 2019. These student-involved incidents took place on Ithaca public property in areas surrounding the campus. Based on a student body population of 24,027, that's 0.46 incidents per 1,000 students.

The table below gives the number of incidents by category, and for comparision, also states the max number of incidents reported by any school in our analysis.

CategoryNumber of IncidentsMax Number of Incidents (at any school)Number of Incidents per 1,000 studentsMax Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school)
Arrests for Major Crimes2670.08666.67
Arrests for Possession22450.081,294.12
Violence Against Women1240.04555.56
Disciplinary Actions61370.25137.93

The chart below shows what percentage of Cornell student-related crime and safety incidents in the Ithaca neighborhood surrounding the campus are in each category.

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References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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