2019 George Washington University Crime & Safety Report
Is GWU safe? On this page, we'll examine crime statistics for the college campus and surrounding areas.
Info in this crime and safety report on GWU:
- Understanding the Stats
- GWU Crime Overall
- On-Campus Crime
- Crime on Off-Campus Affiliated Property
- Residence Hall Crime
- Crime in the Washington Neighborhood
- References
Understanding the Crime Stats for GWU
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
Many colleges and universities report zero incidents in some 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.
While zero reported crimes may seem like a good sign, it does not necessarily indicate that the school has been safer. It may just be that the school doesn't have as strict reporting as others. Similarly, a high number of incidents could indicate that the school is more strict about reporting and law enforcement than other institutions.
GWU Overall Crime Stats
Below, you can see the number of incidents by category as well as the maximum number of incidents reported by any school for comparison's purposes.
Category | Number of Incidents | Max Number of Incidents (at any school) | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students | Max Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arrests for Major Crimes | 51 | 1,670 | 1.83 | 4,000.00 |
Arrests for Possession | 11 | 880 | 0.40 | 1,352.94 |
Violence Against Women | 35 | 334 | 1.26 | 1,000.00 |
Disciplinary Actions | 388 | 2,670 | 13.95 | 4,574.85 |
GWU Overall Crime by Category
The chart below shows what percentage of GWU crime and safety incidents are in each category.

Disciplinary actions account for 80.0% of all crime and safety incidents at the school. Around 2.3% of the crime and safety-related incidents at George Washington University resulted in arrests for possession. About 10.5% of incidents were arrests for major crimes. Acts of violence against women accounted for 7.2% of incidents.
Comparison to Other Schools in the Nation
The charts below show how GWU 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.
We can factor in the size of the school and look at the incidents per thousand students as well.
GWU Overall Crime by Location
The chart below shows what percentage of GWU crime and safety incidents happened in each location.

GWU On-Campus Crime Stats
Below, you can see the number of incidents by category as well as the maximum number of incidents reported by any school for comparison's purposes.
Category | Number of Incidents | Max Number of Incidents (at any school) | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students | Max Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arrests for Major Crimes | 48 | 1,585 | 1.73 | 4,000.00 |
Arrests for Possession | 7 | 813 | 0.25 | 888.89 |
Violence Against Women | 32 | 331 | 1.15 | 1,000.00 |
Disciplinary Actions | 386 | 2,645 | 13.88 | 4,544.91 |
GWU On-Campus Crime by Category
The percentage breakdown of GWU on-campus crime and safety incidents by category is shown in the following chart.

GWU Affiliated Off-Campus Crime Stats
Below, you can see the number of incidents by category as well as the maximum number of incidents reported by any school for comparison's purposes.
Category | Number of Incidents | Max Number of Incidents (at any school) | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students | Max Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arrests for Major Crimes | 0 | 164 | 0.00 | 333.33 |
Arrests for Possession | 1 | 64 | 0.04 | 111.11 |
Violence Against Women | 1 | 100 | 0.04 | 194.44 |
Disciplinary Actions | 0 | 144 | 0.00 | 305.56 |
GWU Affiliated Off-Campus Crime by Category
The percentage breakdown of GWU crime and safety incidents by category on affiliated off-campus is shown in the following chart.

GWU Residence Hall Crime Stats
Below, you can see the number of incidents by category as well as the maximum number of incidents reported by any school for comparison's purposes.
Category | Number of Incidents | Max Number of Incidents (at any school) | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students | Max Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arrests for Major Crimes | 31 | 167 | 1.11 | 101.80 |
Arrests for Possession | 4 | 715 | 0.14 | 180.35 |
Violence Against Women | 20 | 140 | 0.72 | 53.89 |
Disciplinary Actions | 375 | 2,507 | 13.48 | 4,029.94 |
GWU Residence Hall Crime by Category
The percentage breakdown of GWU crime and safety incidents by category in residence halls is shown in the following chart.

Washington Neighborhood Student-Related Crime Stats
Below, you can see the number of incidents by category as well as the maximum number of incidents reported by any school for comparison's purposes.
Category | Number of Incidents | Max Number of Incidents (at any school) | Number of Incidents per 1,000 students | Max Number of Incidents per 1000 students (at any school) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arrests for Major Crimes | 3 | 67 | 0.11 | 666.67 |
Arrests for Possession | 3 | 245 | 0.11 | 1,294.12 |
Violence Against Women | 2 | 24 | 0.07 | 555.56 |
Disciplinary Actions | 2 | 137 | 0.07 | 137.93 |
GWU Student-Related Crime in Washington Neighborhood by Category
The chart below shows what percentage of GWU student-related crime and safety incidents in the Washington neighborhood surrounding the campus are in each category.

References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- U.S. Department of Education Campus Safety and Security
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Michiel1972 under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.