FBI definitions of crime categories

 ... Because of inconsistencies, the statistics for sex crimes are hard to compare. Non-forcible offenses are supposed to include only incest and statutory rape, but some colleges mistakenly reported other offenses in the category.

 Dashes instead of numbers in a college's statistics indicate that information was not available. In many cases, the institution did not provide data for a certain category.

 The current survey deleted four colleges that have appeared in previous years. Those institutions either have multiple campuses, none of which has 5,000 students, or rely primarily on distance learning. They are: Empire State College of the State University of New York, National-Louis University, Regents College (New York), and the University of Phoenix.

 Experts on campus crime warn that comparisons among colleges must be undertaken with caution. The crime reports do not consider the nature of the institutions (rural or urban, residential or commuter, etc.). In addition, colleges with highly professional police departments may pursue crime more aggressively than do colleges that handle most incidents through a campus judicial system. High numbers may not mean that a campus is less safe than others.