Oakton named among safest college campuses in nation

Oakton Community College in Des Plaines and Skokie is one of the safest college campuses in the United States, according to StateUniversity.com's annual report of crime at college's and universities.

StateUniversity.com is a website for higher education data. As part of its Safest Schools rankings, the website analyzed crime statistics, including assault, theft, robbery, rape, and murder, for 450 college and universities, assigning a safety rating to each school.

Oakton placed 31st in the nation and third in Illinois after earning a score of 97.74 percent.

The findings are based on the number of incidents of crime reported by campus safety officials, as well as the severity of the crimes reported.

“Student safety and campus crimes are sometimes overlooked during the college evaluation process,” said Dominik Mazur, founder of StateUniversity.com, in a news release. “We believe it's important for students to be aware of crime on campus and in the surrounding community.”

Oakton Public Safety Chief Dennis Nolan lauded the college's administration and board of trustees for providing public safety officers with the latest training, tools, and technology to provide the safest learning environment possible.

Arkansas State University-Beebe ranks as the safest school in the nation and Lake Land College in Mattoon topped the list for campus safety in Illinois. Also in the top 100 were Benedictine University in Lisle (34th), College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn (58th), College of Lake County in Grayslake (65th) and Elgin Community College (79th).