A recent Reader's Digest study that warns parents about nationwide campus crime reveals that UF ranks No. 234 out of 285 institutions with high crime ratings.
The March article, titled "Is Your College Student Safe at School?" rates the universities based on each institute's reported crime data in nine categories sent to the Department of Education in 2004 and 2005, the latest years available.
The categories include murder, rape, theft and arson.
The higher the score, the higher the campus crime activity. UF's score means that only 51 other universities in the study had less crime than UF.
Linda Stump, chief of the University Police Department, said she was concerned by UF's ranking because of its impact on a large audience.
"I think anyone who reads the Reader's Digest will be like, 'What?'" Stump said.
Severe offenses, such as murder and rape, weighed more than burglary and theft, and enrollment was considered, the article stated.
In 2004, UF was one of three universities on the list to have a murder occur on campus, a factor that UPD Lt. Robert Wagner said must have affected the low rating.
UF has not had any campus murders since, and 2004 was a statistical anomaly, he said.
Wagner said it is more difficult to secure UF because it is an open, public campus.
"No man is an island, neither is any university," he said. "The crime rate on a university is affected by the crime committed outside the university."
He said he considers UF to be a safe campus, and there are more thefts than other major crimes.
Stump and Wagner both brought up another study that ranked UF No. 46 by Security Magazine in a 2007 report, which ranked the security of 500 organizations.
UPD is also the only department in the nation to earn accreditation on university, state and international levels.
Despite those honors, the low Reader's Digest ranking doesn't make sense to some UF officials.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said UPD has a good track record.
"They would stack up against the best in the business," Orlando said.
