Northwest Florida State named safest campus in Florida

“I am proud Northwest Florida State College’s campus safety is being recognized on the national level,” said Dr. Devin Stephenson, president of NWF State College. “Not only does the recognition highlight the work our staff puts in to make our six locations safe, but it also speaks to the character of our students.”

Northwest Florida State College was recently named safest college campus in the state of Florida by YourLocalSecurity.com.

The rankings considered public and private colleges across the country with 5,000 students or more. Using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety and Security analysis and the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, the study determined the safest college campus in each state.

Four main factors were used to narrow down campus safety amongst the schools that met the required criteria; Hate crimes per enrolled students, violence against women per enrolled females, property crime per population and violent crime per population. Northwest Florida State College has a mass notification system and many programs to keep the campus safe such as trainings for basic life support, stop the bleed and responses to active shooting situations to name a few.

“I am proud Northwest Florida State College’s campus safety is being recognized on the national level,” said Dr. Devin Stephenson, president of NWF State College. “Not only does the recognition highlight the work our staff puts in to make our six locations safe, but it also speaks to the character of our students.”

Additionally, NWF State College joins Governor Ron DeSantis in celebrating the news that Florida ranks No. 1 in the nation in higher education according to U.S. News and World Report. This is the third consecutive year that Florida – home to 28 state colleges – has been the top state for higher education by the study.

“Being number one in the nation for our higher education programs proves that Florida truly understands education is a powerful tool for improving lives,” Stephenson said. “For Northwest Florida State College, this recognition is evidence that the best really is our standard.”

The rankings for the U.S. News and World Report were determined by considering the amount of citizens in each state that hold a college degree, as well as the time it takes students to complete two and four-year degree programs. Also included in the ranking process were the cost of in-state tuition and the burden of debt that college graduates carry.