Most major Connecticut universities saw an overall decrease in reported crime in 2024, according to recently released campus security reports.
CT Insider collected crime statistics across multiple Connecticut colleges and universities from the 2025 annual campus security and fire safety reports, which schools are required to publish every Oct. 1 under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
“The fundamental point of having the crime statistics is so that people know that crimes do happen on college and university campuses,” said S. Daniel Carter, president of the consulting group SAFE Campuses LLC.
The Clery Act, named after Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University student who was raped and killed on campus in 1986, requires colleges and universities that receive federal funding to report campus crime data and safety policies. Here’s what the data shows at major Connecticut higher education institutions:
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State’s largest universities saw slight decrease in crime between 2024 and 2023
Yale University, the University of Connecticut and multiple other major Connecticut schools saw a decline in overall crime in 2024 compared to 2023, according to the reports.
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At Yale, the university saw around a 19% decrease in reported crimes in 2024, said Duane Lovello, head of Yale Public Safety in a statement to CT Insider. The university also saw decreases in reported sexual assault, domestic violence and aggravated assault, he said.
“However, any crime committed has a profound impact on those affected, and the safety and security of the community continues to be Yale’s top priority,” Lovello said.
Reported criminal offenses, which include murder, manslaughter by negligence, rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson, also slightly decreased at UConn in 2024 compared to 2023, according to the report.
Both Yale and UConn reported the highest number of criminal offenses in 2024 out of the state’s major four-year higher education institutions, but they also have the biggest student population. So, while the crime statistics are important indicators, Carter said it’s critical to contextualize them.
“You have to take into consideration the size, geographically, population of each institution, and they are different,” he said. Considering the number of students living on campus is also important, Carter added. Both Yale and UConn have high percentages of resident students.
“All of these things are factors,” Carter said.
Motor vehicle thefts, burglary high at some CT schools
While many schools saw an overall decline in crime last year, some types of crime increased.
At Central Connecticut State University, overall crime was slightly up in 2024, a rise that can largely be traced to a spike in motor vehicle thefts. There were six motor vehicle thefts reported at CCSU in 2024 compared to one in 2023 and none in 2022, according to the report.
At Yale, the most common crimes in 2024 were motor vehicle theft and burglary. There were 50 burglaries reported at Yale in 2024, the majority of which occurred on campus, compared to 29 in 2023 and 14 in 2022. There were also slightly more reported robberies in 2024.
In addition, there were 149 motor vehicle thefts at and around Yale in 2024 and 169 in 2023 – high numbers compared to only 35 in 2022. Motor vehicle thefts also include electric scooters and electric bicycles, the report notes.
Most of the 2024 motor vehicle thefts occurred off campus and on public property, according to the report. The Clery reports detail crimes and incidents that occur on campus and around campus, like off-campus locations owned and used by schools, and on public property adjacent to the campus, such as streets and sidewalks.
That was another reason it was important to consider the location of the university when examining the crime data, including whether it was urban, like Yale is, or suburban or rural, Carter said.
Although motor vehicle theft was down at UConn in 2024, the university saw a major spike in burglaries in 2024 – the most significant crime increase that year. UConn police received 27 reports of burglaries in 2024 compared to 12 in 2023 and 3 in 2022, according to the report.
“The large majority of the 2024 reports were attributable to one individual, and occurred when that now-former student entered unlocked dorm rooms and took items from desks and other areas in plain sight, police say,” according to the university news release on the report. “Nonetheless, the spike in numbers is prompting renewed reminders to students to always lock their residence hall and apartment doors, never to leave the room unattended when the door is unlocked, and not to leave valuable items in plain sight while the door is unsecured.”
Wesleyan University and the University of New Haven also reported a spike in burglaries in 2024.
Hate crimes up in 2024, reflecting statewide and national trends
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Some Connecticut universities saw a spike in hate crimes in 2024, the reports show. The trend on campuses reflects a broader rise statewide, as Connecticut overall saw a 21% uptick in hate crimes in 2024, according to recently released state figures.
While the nationwide campus crime data for 2024 wasn’t out yet, Carter said college campuses across the country have seen significant increases in hate crimes over the past two years. “And I would suspect the trend will probably continue in 2024,” he said.
He said the increase was being driven by two things: increased strife that has occurred on many campuses over political situations and a greater recognition about identifying hate crimes.
In 2024, Yale University saw the sharpest increase in hate crimes, with 11 hate crimes compared to three in 2023 and five in 2022. Hate crimes include any criminal offenses or incident of larceny-theft, simple assault, intimidation, or destruction/damage/vandalism of property that were motivated by bias, according to Yale’s report. Six of the 11 hate crimes at Yale in 2024 were classified in the report as anti-Jewish.
The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Yale in March over a complaint filed last spring alleging that some Jewish students at Yale have been subject to ongoing threats and harassment.
Across the country, many college campuses, including Yale, became hotspots last spring for protests against Israel and the war in Gaza. Organizations like the Anti-Defamation League also reported a steep rise in antisemitic incidents on campuses in 2024.
In addition, Sacred Heart, which reported no hate crimes in 2022 and 2023, saw three in 2024. Those include one religion-related hate crime and two sexual orientation-related hate crimes, according to the report. The University of New Haven also saw three hate crimes reported in 2024, compared with one in 2023 and none in 2022.
Despite the overall increase, several schools reported zero hate crime offenses in 2024.
Reported rapes hit three-year low at multiple CT colleges
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At most major Connecticut universities, the number of reported rapes declined in 2024 compared to the year before, with several reporting a three-year low, according to the reports.
However, Carter said it’s important to note that for some offenses in particular, the numbers dramatically understate the number of incidents. The sexual assault offenses in the reports are based on the number of people who come forward and make a report, not the number of incidents that actually occurred, he said.
“I would say for sexual assault in particular … you’re probably looking, at most, about 20% of the incidents that’s actually occurred. It’s probably a lot less than that,” Carter said. College-age victims of sexual violence rarely report to law enforcement, according to widely cited statistics.
In addition, the Clery reporting is limited to geographical constraints, so incidents that occur at other nearby areas like an off-campus bar or apartment aren’t included in the statistics, he said.
Yale was one of the universities where the number of reported rapes hit a three-year low, with 19 in 2024 compared to 56 in 2023 and 41 in 2022, according to the report. The number of reported Violence Against Women Act offenses, which include domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, also significantly decreased in 2024 compared to 2023.
The University of Hartford, Connecticut College, Sacred Heart University, Quinnipiac University and Southern Connecticut State University also saw a three-year low in reported rapes.
At UConn, the number of reported rapes did not increase or decrease, as there were eight in 2024, 2023 and in 2022, according to the report.
“Of the eight sexual assaults reported at Storrs in calendar year 2024 – the same number as in 2023 – police received two reports directly from individuals. The rest were reported by campus security authorities, including Residential Life and Student Affairs, to be included in the Clery report,” according to a university news release. “In the case of sexual violence crimes, UConn’s Clery numbers reflect a large amount of input from campus security authorities, along with significant outreach services university-wide to encourage reporting of this traditionally underreported crime.”
UConn’s news release cites a university policy, in which most UConn employees are required to report sexual assault. “Because that policy is specific to UConn and other institutions might take different approaches, comparisons are difficult to make against other universities whose policies are not as robust and whose reporting requirements are not as stringent,” according to the news release.
This article originally published at What crimes occurred at Connecticut universities in 2024? Data shows fewer reported rapes, more burglaries.
