TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida in Tampa ranked last in safety among Florida college campuses at 382nd among 490 schools nationwide, according to a new study.
Alarms.org factored several criteria when trying to rank the safest schools in America, including data from law enforcement, FBI reports, crime rate and police adequacy.
Florida SouthWestern State College ranked No. 20 in the nation and ranked as the safest college in Florida. The security system website listed Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee as the safest college in America.
The USF Police Department issued a response to the report, saying the website didn't offer a detailed definition of its criteria. It also pointed out the authors of the report conceded that “due to the many different variables in play such as campus size, location, and culture, coming up with an accurate and fair ranking is a challenge.”
Read the full USF response below.
How Florida colleges ranked in Alarms.org’s study:
No. 20: Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Florida
No. 50: Sante Fe College in Gainesville, Florida
No. 118: University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, Florida
No. 130: University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida
No. 201: Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida
No. 207: University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida
No. 258: University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida
No. 265: Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Florida
No. 271: University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
No. 313: Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida
No. 316: Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida
No. 338: Pensacola State College in Pensacola, Florida.
No. 342: Florida International University in Miami, Florida
No. 382: University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida
The University of Miami and Florida State University were not ranked in Alarms.org’s list.
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