It is every parent's dream.  You are driving away from a beautiful college campus after dropping your happy new freshman off for their initial flight from the nest. 

 

You feel sure that you have done everything you can to launch your son or daughter into a wonderful university life. The dorm room is furnished.  Freshman orientation is over.  The room mate looks normal.  You found a way to pay tuition.  And you are reasonably sure that your young adult family member is enrolled in a program that will help them, in just four years, to become an economically self-sufficient citizen.

 

But is your new college student safe?  The federal government provides a website that allows parents to check the campus safety records for colleges as part of their selection process.

 

Visit www.ope.ed.gov/security to check the latest campus security statistics for colleges that your children attend or may attend.  The information on this website helps families take campus safety into account as they select a college and  prepare their children for any threats that may exist on the college they decide to attend.  Knowing the threats and the campus safety services that are provided can help students and parents be prepared and rest easier.

 

By and large, colleges are a very safe environment.  But where a college is located and the extent to which they provide security services does affect how safe your new student will be.  Parents and prospective students will do well to include campus safety in the data gathering they do prior to making a college choice and starting life on campus.