More than 8,200 rapes were reported at American colleges and universities in 2024, with the University of Utah recording the highest single-campus total in the nation.
The 36,894-student public school in Salt Lake City logged 146 rape accusations last year, nearly double the next-highest institution, according to federal Department of Education data reviewed by The Post. Most of those alleged attacks, 122, took place in dorms, while 18 occurred in other campus buildings and six happened in off-campus property run by the school or a student organization.
The University of Colorado Boulder ranked second nationally with 96 reported rapes in 2024, followed by Ohio State University with 67. Penn State University recorded 57 cases, UCLA had 52, and the University of California Santa Cruz logged 46. Rounding out the national top 10 were UC Santa Barbara and Indiana University, each with 43, the University of Kansas with 39, and the University of Kentucky with 37.
Elite New York institutions posted disturbing numbers under broader state reporting rules that capture sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking in a combined tally. Columbia University led the state with 262 reported incidents of sexual violence in 2024, including 21 rapes on campus, all in residence halls.
NYU reported 229 cases of sexual violence, with 28 investigated and 10 resulting in disciplinary action. SUNY Albany followed with 217 cases and SUNY Binghamton with 198. Cornell University, currently embroiled in a drug-fueled gang rape scandal at its Chi Phi fraternity, recorded 166 cases in 2024 — the same year the alleged October incident occurred at the frat house.
Cornell investigated 18 of its cases and took disciplinary action in 11, including three expulsions and four suspensions, according to the data. Two of the Chi Phi members accused in the gang rape case were expelled and two others were suspended for a year, the university’s president has said. The university faced backlash after an alleged victim’s lawsuit argued that some accused rapists were allowed to return to campus after submitting essays about the alleged assault.
Columbia’s handling of reports stood out as the worst among large New York schools for both investigation and disciplinary action. Of the 262 incidents reported to the school’s Title IX coordinator in 2024, only three were investigated, and merely one case resulted in the accused student being expelled.
This pattern extended across seven years of available data, from 2018 to 2024. Over that full period, Columbia consistently maintained the poorest record among Empire State colleges. An average of just 9% of the 1,202 total reported cases were investigated, and only 1% — 17 cases — resulted in any disciplinary action.
The university’s failures drew national attention when student Emma Sulkowicz carried the mattress she said she was sexually assaulted on around campus for months to protest the school’s inaction against her accused rapist, even bringing it on stage as she graduated in 2015. Classmate Paul Nungesser was accused of raping her during sophomore year in 2012 but was cleared after a university investigation.
Reported sex offenses on college campuses have skyrocketed over the past decade, rising nearly fivefold. Research suggests only a small minority of sexual assault reports, between 2% to 10%, are false — such as the infamous Duke University lacrosse case.
“The number should be taken seriously, while being understood for what it is: a count of reports, not the full picture,” psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert, author of “Therapy Nation,” told The Post.
“Reports aren’t convictions, and the figure can’t possibly tell us how many assaults went unreported,” he added.
On campus, reporting can mean risking a whole social circle if the accused is a classmate, friend or member of the same group.
The federal campus crime data for 2024 is collected under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, which requires institutions receiving federal funding to report crime statistics annually.
