Universal Journal of Educational Research 5(10): 1678-1683, 2017 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2017.051002 Quantitatively Assessing Reported Crime versus Enrollment among Selected Higher Education Institutions Daniel Doss1,*, Hilliard Lackey2, David McElreath3, Balakrishna Gokaraju1, Raymond Tesiero1, Don Jones4, Glenna Lusk3 1College of Business and Technology, University of West Alabama, Livingston, United States 2College of Education, Jackson State University, United States 3College of Applied Sciences, University of Mississippi, United States 4Belhaven University, United States Copyright©2017 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract This study uses multiple regressions to education system. The Crime Awareness and Campus examine campus safety and campus security from the Security Act of 1990 (Clery Act) resulted from this heinous perspective of societal crime that occurs external to an crime. During modern times, the Clery Act mandates the institution of higher education versus institutional enrollment. reporting and disseminating publicly of crime data that The findings herein showed one statistically significant reflects campus criminality. Such information is freely outcome involving the crime of aggravated assault. Student available to any parties that may have an interest in affairs and other institutional leaders may find this study academic institutions. useful when contemplating enrollment issues and Clery Act Students of higher education institutions may not all live reporting requirements. within the campus setting. Many also socialize and work outside the academic setting within surrounding Keywords Campus Safety, Campus Security, Clery, communities. Although the Clery Act mandates the Enrollment, Higher Education, Student Affairs reporting of campus crimes, such external presences and activities may facilitate victimization of students that is never reported to campus law enforcement organizations. Given these notions, this study seeks to examine the 1. Introduction potential interaction between such external criminality and institutional enrollment. Crime permeates the entirety of society, and is defined by society itself. Basically, crime is anything society says it is 1.2. Enrollment and Criminality via the legislative process, codified and expressed as law, and made enforceable by proper authority [1, 2]. The Although anyone may review the crime data for an administrators and leaders of academic institutions are academic institution during the process of deciding which responsible for providing and maintaining safe environments institution to attend, debate exists regarding whether to facilitate any activities that may occur within their knowledge and understanding of criminality affect respective campus boundaries. However, despite good faith enrollment decisions among higher education institutions. and best efforts toward abating criminality, no institution of An examination of Virginia’s higher education settings higher education is impervious to crime. All campuses must indicated that criminality may be explained significantly by acknowledge the realities of both misdemeanors and the enrolled quantity of students residing “on campus” [3]. felonies that may affect their respective academic settings. The study used correlation and data from the 2004 academic year to examine the complete “population of Virginia 4-year public, 4-year private, and 2-year public colleges and 1.1. Clery Act universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia” [3, p. 79]. During 1986, at Lehigh University, Jeanne Clery, an Another study showed that the collegiate attendance decision undergraduate student, was assaulted, raped, and killed in is “less influenced by campus crime statistics” [4, p. 44]. her dormitory. Although this attack resulted in her death, it This finding was based upon a study performed at a was the catalyst for bolstering and enhancing campus safety “mid-size university with a student population near 14,000” and security throughout the entirety of the U.S. higher [4, p. 34]. The host research location was described as being Universal Journal of Educational Research 5(10): 1678-1683, 2017 1679 similar to other institutions of higher education nationally generated regarding criminality that occurs near campuses [4]. beyond the minimum reporting mandates of the Clery Act [9]. Another study used regression to explore a national data Per the recommendation of the study, this article provides set that spanned the period between 2000 and 2010 [5]. greater insight regarding the potential of societal instances of Among the examined settings, the typical levels of criminality to affect enrollments within the context of higher enrollment averaged approximately 15,361 students [5]. The education institutions. study showed that enrollment is a direct determinant of criminality at higher education institutions [5]. A positive 1.4. Additional Attributes relationship exists between crime rates and enrollment rates [6]. This finding was based a study of 200 domestic Other factors may affect collegiate choice and enrollment. institutions of higher education [6]. These institutions Enrollment decisions may be affected by the reputations of represented the first and fourth quartiles of increased academic programs and higher education institutions or by enrollments for the period spanning the years 2007 and 2012 the offering of niche academic studies [10, 11]. Factors [6]. affecting enrollment include education costs, financial aid, A 2003 study showed that crime knowledge significantly institutional size, geographic location, institutional affected the choice to attend an institution of higher appearance, and attentiveness by institutional personnel education [7]. This study examined a national data set [12]. containing a sample of 9,150 student respondents, a total of 3,866 usable responses, and a response rate of approximately 1.5. Current Inquiry 42% [7]. A contrasting study was discovered within the literature. Over a decade after the 2003 study, it was shown Institutional enrollment is of paramount importance for that crime knowledge was unlikely to affect the institutional the longevity and survival of higher education institutions. attendance decision [8]. Using a student population of Ensuring that a sufficient quantity of students exists to 16,200 and sample of 1,361, the study generated this finding facilitate a financial breakeven point and profitability is a across multiple student categories, ranging from traditional concern of academic administrators [13, 14]. Certainly, students to “specialty college students such as medical and crime levels may affect enrollment [6, 7]. Criminal activity pharmacy residents” [8, p. 50]. that occurs among the communities which surround Given the contents of the reviewed literature, little campuses may affect academic settings of higher education consensus exists to support a universal link between institutions [9]. Because of such influences, it is perceptions of reported criminality and enrollment existing recommended that institutional administrators provide among higher educations. Despite the disagreement information that exceeds the mandatory requirements of the expressed within the literature, none of the reviewed articles Clery Act [9]. Given such notions, this study aims to examined criminality versus enrollment from the perspective examine the potential of societal criminality to affect of land-grant institutions of higher education. Because of this enrollment quantities among higher education, land-grant absence within the reviewed literature, this article provides institutions. additional commentary regarding criminality versus enrollment from the perspective of land-grant institutions. 1.6. Framework Land-grant institutions are public, state-sponsored colleges and universities that originated with the Morrill Act of 1862 Maslow’s needs hierarchy comprises the basis of this and the Morrill Act of 1890 [19]. Federal land was granted study. More specifically, the hierarchy addresses human to the individual states wherein public institutions of higher safety and security needs. If these needs are not satisfied, education were created [19]. Historically, these institutions then needs corresponding to knowing and understanding emphasized agricultural and mechanical disciplines as well become uninfluential when considering learning and as minority audiences (e.g., historically black colleges and motivation [20]. Given this notion, campus safety and universities) [19]. security needs among higher education institutions are of critical importance for administrators [21]. Thus, when 1.3. Geospatial Perspective considering the needs of campus safety and security, Maslow’s hierarchy represents a theoretical foundation with A 2012 study examined campus crime versus geospatial respect to this study. aspects of communities that surround higher education institutions [9]. Using a large, southern university, the study examined the period between 2003 and 2007 via a geospatial 2. Materials and Methods examination of 49,120 arrests involving university students [9]. The study showed that the Clery Act insufficiently The design and method of this study represented a portrays “victimization risk” because it excludes “incidents quantitative inquiry regarding the potential interaction occurring very near, but technically not on college campuses” between societal criminality and higher education [9, p. 1150]. The study calls for greater awareness being institutional enrollment. The examined period ranged 1680 Quantitatively Assessing Reported Crime versus Enrollment among Selected Higher Education Institutions between the years 2001 and 2012. This period was selected H : No statistically significant interaction exists between 0,2 because it provided the most recent reported crime data sets reported societal incidents of sex crimes and institutional available from the U.S. Department of Education and the enrollment. Federal Bureau of Investigation at the time of this study. Thus, this study represents a national analysis of secondary 2.4. Variables and Analytical Method data that is accessible and freely available from the federal The dependent variable for this study consisted of government. enrollment among higher education institutions. The independent variables for this study consisted of reported 2.1. Data Sets incidents of aggregated sex crimes and reported incidents of The institutional enrollment data sets were obtained from aggravated assault crimes. These variables were selected the Campus Safety and Security database sponsored and because they represent domestic instances of moral maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. The data turpitude that may be lethal (e.g., the Jeanne Clery incident). sets reflecting annual crime reports for each of the states These dependent and independent variables were were obtained from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) incorporated within multiple regression analysis to database sponsored and maintained by the Federal Bureau investigate each of the considered hypotheses. The of Investigation. Given these sources, the data sets consisted significance level of hypothesis testing was .05. The of reported annual societal crime quantities and reported assessment of multicollinearity potential was accomplished annual enrollment quantities within the U.S. higher via the examination of the Pearson correlation coefficient education system. All of the annual values incorporated reflecting potential strengths of relationships between the herein were used in aggregate forms. two independent variables of reported sex crime aggregates versus reported aggravated assault aggregates. All 2.2. Population and Sample quantitative analyses were performed using PSPP. The population and sample for this study represented 2.5. Reliability and Validity land-grant universities within the U.S. higher education system. Land-grant institutions of higher education were The data sets used within this study were obtained from selected as the population for examination because they are government sources, specifically the Campus Safety and present among all 50 states thereby providing the basis for a Security Database sponsored and maintained by the U.S. national study of societal crime versus institutional Department of Education and the Uniform Crime reports enrollment among higher education institutions. sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, thereby According to the Smithsonian Institution, a total of 105 enhancing reliability. The data sets were aggregated from land-grant institutions exist within the U.S. higher education reported instances of criminality that were generated among system [15]. This quantity of higher education organizations each separate land-grant institution of higher education comprised the overall population (N = 105) for the study. (among each state) per the Clery Act. Thus, the accumulated However, the data sources contained data only for states, data is assumed to be a truthful representation of campus but not U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Thus, criminality at each of the considered higher education the sample herein represents only land-grant education institutions. institutions among the 50 states. Given the exclusion of territorial and District of Columbia institutions, a total of 99 3. Findings entities (n = 99) comprised the sample within this study. Demographics of the dependent variable (enrollment) 2.3. Research Questions and Hypotheses reflecting the values of mean and standard deviation were as The primary research question for this study was: Do follows: M = 1,405,712.58; SD = 61,098.72. The mean and reported incidents of societal assaults and sex crimes affect standard deviation attributes for reported incidents of enrollment quantities among land-grant higher education societal sex crimes were as follows: M = 90,848.67; SD = institutions? Investigating this question necessitated the 4,157.84. The mean and standard deviation attributes for following two sub-questions: Is there a statistically reported incidents of societal aggravated assault crimes significant interaction between reported societal incidents of were as follows: M = 838,393.17; SD = 50,674.27. aggravated assault crimes and enrollment? Is there a Respectively, the multiple R and R2 values resulting from statistically significant interaction between reported societal the regression analysis were 0.97 and 0.94. Thus, these incidents of sex crimes and enrollment? outcomes suggest a favorable goodness-of-fit regarding the The null hypotheses derived from these research questions regression analysis with approximately 94% of the variation were as follows: in the dependent variable (enrollment quantities) being explainable by the examined independent variables (annual H : No statistically significant interaction exists between 0,1 aggregates of sex crimes and aggravated assault crimes). reported societal incidents of aggravated assault crimes and Figure 1, shown below, delineates the results of the institutional enrollment. regression analysis. Universal Journal of Educational Research 5(10): 1678-1683, 2017 1681 Figure 1. Regression Output Given the contents of Figure 1, the hypothesis reflecting versus enrollment. This outcome may arise from the notion that no statistically significant interaction exists perceptions of high-crime communities surrounding urban between reported societal incidents of aggravated assault institutions of higher education as being unsafe for their crimes and institutional enrollment is rejected (p < .05). The residents, personnel, and visitors. For instance, in Memphis, hypothesis corresponding to the notion that no statistically Tennessee (an urban environment), among areas significant interaction exists between reported societal surrounding the campus of the University of Memphis, incidents of sex crimes and institutional enrollment is examples of criminality that affect the higher education retained (p > .05). Thus, one statistically significant outcome settings include shootings, mugging, carjacking, disorderly was discovered via hypothesis testing involving the conduct, assault, and robbery [16]. Another example category of societal aggravated assault crimes. involved a lethal, off-campus incident near Auburn Assessment of multicollinearity was accomplished University, Alabama in 2012. The city of Auburn is home through the use of correlation analysis. Using the Pearson to Auburn University (land-grant institution). The incident correlation coefficient, the potential strength of relationship involved a deadly shooting at an apartment pool party that between the independent variables of reported incidents of resulted in the deaths of three men [17]. Two of the sex crime aggregates versus reported incidents of decedents were affiliated with the institution’s football team aggravated assault crime aggregates was calculated as r = [17]. 0.86. Therefore, the potential of multicollinearity must not It is expected that colleges and universities are be discounted within the regression analysis of this study. reasonably safe environments where individuals may work, In addition to the regression analysis, the variables of sex students may learn, and others may visit. However, despite crime aggregates and aggravated assault crime aggregates the best efforts to ensure campus safety and security, no both may be examined separately with respect to their higher education campus is impervious to threats involving individual potential strengths of relationship regarding assault and sex crimes (or any other type of crime). Campus enrollment. Using correlation, the r values of sex crime safety and security are imperatives that must neither be aggregates and aggravated assault crime aggregates are discounted nor taken lightly by administrators. Instead, they -0.87 and -0.97, respectively. These outcomes indicate must be of the highest importance to administrators as a strong, negative potential strengths of relationships with measure of mitigating the risk of criminality. Given these enrollment. Essentially, in both cases, inverse relationships notions, campuses may consider this study within the are suggested with enrollment. context of the emergency management cycle (EMC). The EMC is a cyclical process for managing incidents that may contribute toward the identifying of potential 4. Conclusions and Recommendations endangerments via the crafting and implementing of threat matrices [18]. The construction of threat matrices to identify The outcomes of this study provide insight regarding the and assign risks to various, perceived dangers is an EMC potential of sex crime and aggravated assault crime within requirement for enhancing the ability of organizations to society to affect higher education enrollment. Although one withstand perils [18]. 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