Wednesday, September 13, 2017
students outside

Safewise.com has named Durham, home to the University of New Hampshire, No. 1 on its list of the 30 safest college towns in the country, a bump up from the No. 4 spot held last year.

The rankings consider FBI crime statistics in relation to population as well as safety, security and outreach programs that contribute to making the community safer. UNH’s Sexual Harassment & Rape Prevention Program (SHARPP) was specifically cited for getting students involved in crime prevention and awareness.

Earlier this year, Alarms.org ranked UNH No. 1 on its list of the 100 safest schools in the country, based on statistics on both on-and off-campus crime rates from the FBI and the National Center for Education. More than 2,000 four-year colleges and universities were assessed.

According to that study, UNH had the fewest incidents of local and on-campus crimes, drug-related charges and crimes against women. UNH was the only New Hampshire school to make the list.