Criminal Background Checks Reveals One in Twenty Nine College Students has Criminal Records

An investigative country wide survey conducted by a private background checking agency has revealed a startling statistic, approximately one out of every twenty-nine college students has had some type of previous criminal or violation record. The statistic was derived from multiple checks conducted on 13,859 students in 125 colleges, universities, career colleges, and other educational institutions.

On the background checks done during the survey, the agency only looked for criminal convictions and criminal records, they did not include any dismissed charges or any juvenile records, which are sealed by the courts and not publicly accessible. The statistic also did not include any arrest records that did not result in a conviction.

Percentage of Crime Types Uncovered:

Child Molestation or Child Abuse - 2.40 %
Fraud/Financial Fraud - 2.70 %
Assault/Battery/ Attempted Assault - 4.00 %
Sexual Abuse and Sexual Crimes - 5.20 %
Drug Possession/Trafficking - 7.40 %
Theft/Robbery - 8.80 %
Disorderly Conduct - 9.50 %
Driving Violations/DUI - 60.00 %

A record would only affect a person's criminal history unless it is classified as a crime, and in the case of the survey, driving violations were the most common crime found on the college student's records. These would include reckless driving, driving under the influence or driving with a suspended license.

The numbers on the statistic may seem scary to some people, and may alarm some students across the country, but the purpose of this survey is to inform parents and university heads of the unnoticed and growing rates of college students getting into trouble with the law, and with these numbers perhaps also a risk to other members of these universities.

Recently, more and more universities are performing extensive background checks on applicants, and are performing assessments on those they consider to be a risk, and at most times allow people with less serious crimes to enroll, while weeding out the ones that could pose a danger to their students and faculty.

There are a lot of groups and parents against the said move by universities nationwide, but time and time again, it has been proven that our schools are not doing their job of protecting the students, and perhaps need to rethink their evaluation and application methods because of the rise of college violence and crimes, as evident in the columbine and Virginia tech shooting that happened a few years back.