How Safe Is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute? Learn About Campus Crime Statistics (2024)

by our College Data Analytics Team

Unbiased Factual Guarantee

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

Info in this crime and safety report on RPI:

• Understanding the Stats
• RPI Crime Overall
• On-Campus Crime
• Crime on Off-Campus Affiliated Property
• Residence Hall Crime
• Crime in the Troy Neighborhood
• References

A Word About the Crime Stats for RPI

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.

RPI Overall Crime Stats

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 330 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 7,528, that's 43.84 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.

RPI Overall Crime by Category

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

Disciplinary actions account for 81.8% of all crime and safety incidents at the school. Around 0.6% of the crime and safety-related incidents at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute resulted in arrests for possession. About 14.2% of incidents were arrests for major crimes. Acts of violence against women accounted for 3.3% of incidents.

Comparison to Other Schools in the Nation

The charts below show how RPI 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.

RPI Overall Crime by Location

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

RPI On-Campus Crime Stats

In 2019, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 298 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on campus. Since the number of students at the school that year was 7,528, that's 39.59 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.

RPI On-Campus Crime by Category

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

RPI Affiliated Off-Campus Crime Stats

In 2019, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 20 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students on affiliated off-campus properties. Since the number of students at the school that year was 7,528, that's 2.66 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.

RPI Affiliated Off-Campus Crime by Category

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

RPI Residence Hall Crime Stats

In 2019, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 269 incidents related to crime and safety that involved students in residence halls. These counts are also included in the on-campus crimes category. Based on a student body population of 7,528, that's 35.73 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.

RPI Residence Hall Crime by Category

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

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reported 12 safety-related incidents involving students on public property in the Troy neighborhood around the campus in 2019. Since the number of students at the school that year was 7,528, that's 1.59 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.

RPI Student-Related Crime in Troy Neighborhood by Category

The chart below shows what percentage of RPI student-related crime and safety incidents in the Troy 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 UpstateNYer under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.