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2019 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Crime & Safety Report

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

Info in this crime and safety report on MIT:

Understanding the Crime Stats for MIT

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 unusual for institutions to report that no incidents occurred in some 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.

Zero incidents of reported crime may be nice to see, but it does not necessarily mean the school is safer, as 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.

MIT Overall Crime Stats

146 Total Number of Incidents
12.67 Incidents per 1000 Students
Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported 146 incidents related to crime and safety in 2019. These student-involved incidents took place at or near campus or on other properties affiliated with the school. Since the number of students at the school that year was 11,520, that's 12.67 incidents per 1,000 students.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes511,6704.434,000.00
Arrests for Possession08800.001,352.94
Violence Against Women333342.861,000.00
Disciplinary Actions622,6705.384,574.85

MIT Overall Crime by Category

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

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Disciplinary actions account for 42.5% of all crime and safety incidents at the school. About 34.9% of incidents were arrests for major crimes. Acts of violence against women accounted for 22.6% of incidents.

Comparison to Other Schools in the Nation

The charts below show how MIT 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 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 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

MIT Overall Crime by Location

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

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MIT On-Campus Crime Stats

119 Total Number of Incidents
10.33 Incidents per 1000 Students
Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported 119 incidents related to crime and safety in 2019. These student-involved incidents took place on campus. Based on a student body population of 11,520, that's 10.33 incidents per 1,000 students.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes351,5853.044,000.00
Arrests for Possession08130.00888.89
Violence Against Women303312.601,000.00
Disciplinary Actions542,6454.694,544.91

MIT On-Campus Crime by Category

The percentage breakdown of MIT on-campus crime and safety incidents by category is shown in the following chart.

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MIT Affiliated Off-Campus Crime Stats

22 Total Number of Incidents
1.91 Incidents per 1000 Students
In 2019, Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported 22 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on affiliated off-campus properties. Based on a student body population of 11,520, that's 1.91 incidents per 1,000 students.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes111640.95333.33
Arrests for Possession0640.00111.11
Violence Against Women31000.26194.44
Disciplinary Actions81440.69305.56

MIT Affiliated Off-Campus Crime by Category

The percentage breakdown of MIT crime and safety incidents by category on affiliated off-campus is shown in the following chart.

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MIT Residence Hall Crime Stats

97 Total Number of Incidents
8.42 Incidents per 1000 Students
Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported 97 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 11,520, that's 8.42 incidents per 1,000 students.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes221671.91101.80
Arrests for Possession07150.00180.35
Violence Against Women251402.1753.89
Disciplinary Actions502,5074.344,029.94

MIT Residence Hall Crime by Category

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

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5 Total Number of Incidents
0.43 Incidents per 1000 Students
Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported 5 safety-related incidents involving students on public property in the Cambridge neighborhood around the campus in 2019. Since the number of students at the school that year was 11,520, that's 0.43 incidents per 1,000 students.

In order to make this data a little clearer, the table below shows the number of incidents by category and the maximum number of incidents reported by a school in that category.

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 Crimes5670.43666.67
Arrests for Possession02450.001,294.12
Violence Against Women0240.00555.56
Disciplinary Actions01370.00137.93

The percentage breakdown of MIT student-related crime and safety incidents by category in the surrounding Cambridge neighborhood is shown in the following chart.

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References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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