School Crime

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) obtains yearly data about the violent crimes of rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated or simple assault, as well as personal theft. The survey also measures property crimes, including burglary/trespassing, motor vehicle theft, and other types of theft. The NCVS asks several questions about school crime, which provide yearly information about crimes occurring at school or while traveling to and from school. In addition, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Department of Education sponsor the NCVS School Crime Supplement (SCS) periodically. This supplement asks crime victims ages 12 through 18 about crimes that occurred at school and other characteristics of school crime. More information about the SCS is at School Crime Supplement (SCS). Data from the 2022 administration of the SCS is available through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at National Crime Victimization Survey: School Crime Supplement, [United States], 2022.

A yearly report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety was published jointly by BJS and the NCES, the most recent of which released data on school crime and safety from 2022. This report updated several indicators using the most recent data available on topics such as violent deaths at school, nonfatal student and teacher victimization, school environment, weapon use at school, fear and avoidance, and school safety and security. BJS provided information on nonfatal student and teacher victimization using NCVS data. Starting with the 2023 NCVS data, BJS has published two reports on victimizations that occur at and away from school for students ages 12 to 18.