Perhaps it’s not first on your list, but the safety and security of your collegiate environment should be one of the issues you should check into before you leave campus. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to investigate safety the same way you would academic programs and professors. College information sessions or questioning the tour guide are appropriate places to address the issue.
Different universities handle safety differently, often based on location. As you might expect, if a college is located in a major city, it might be more aggressive about the issue than a school in the suburbs. (Note: do not assume, as many students do, that safety is a non-issue in suburban locations).
Colleges and universities don’t want you to feel like you’re living in a military state, but they want to be certain your environment is a comfortable place in which to live and go to school. As a result, they are often more pro-active than reactive. As you’ll see when you visit, most colleges devote a significant amount of resources to issues of safety and security. Here is a list of measures taken by some schools:
Blue Light System
Strategically located around a campus, they have a call box where you can signal the campus police department. Their response time is incredibly fast, in the neighborhood of twenty seconds or less.
