Clery Act & Campus Travel Safety

What Is the Clery Act?

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act -- commonly known as the Clery Act -- is a federal law that requires colleges and universities participating in federal financial aid programs to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses. Originally enacted in 1990 and significantly expanded by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) in 2013, the Clery Act is named after Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University student who was assaulted and murdered in her campus residence hall in 1986.

The law's central requirement is transparency: institutions must publish an Annual Security Report (ASR) containing three years of campus crime statistics, security policies, and crime prevention program descriptions. They must also issue timely warnings when crimes that pose an ongoing threat to students and employees occur.

While the Clery Act is most commonly associated with on-campus safety, its geographic scope extends beyond the physical campus. Institutions must report crimes occurring on campus, on public property immediately adjacent to campus, and at “non-campus” properties that the institution owns, controls, or uses repeatedly for educational purposes. This last category is where university-sponsored travel and study abroad programs become directly relevant.

Who Does the Clery Act Apply To?

The Clery Act applies to all postsecondary institutions that participate in federal student financial aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. This includes:

• Public and private universities -- four-year research universities, liberal arts colleges, and comprehensive universities
• Community colleges -- two-year public institutions with federal financial aid eligibility
• Professional and graduate schools -- medical schools, law schools, and graduate programs
• Vocational and trade schools -- career and technical institutions participating in Title IV
• Study abroad program partners -- foreign institutions or facilities where the U.S. institution maintains direct organizational or supervisory control

Within these institutions, the Clery Act creates specific obligations for Campus Security Authorities (CSAs) -- officials who have significant responsibility for student and campus activities. Faculty advisors, athletic directors, study abroad coordinators, and trip leaders all typically qualify as CSAs and must report certain crimes to the institution's Clery compliance office.

If your university organizes study abroad programs, athletic travel, research field trips, or recurring off-campus educational activities, the Clery Act likely requires crime reporting for those locations and CSA training for the staff who manage them.

Key Clery Act Requirements for University Travel

University-sponsored travel introduces specific Clery Act compliance obligations that many institutions underestimate. The following requirements are particularly relevant to travel risk management.

1. Non-campus property identification.Institutions must identify all locations that qualify as “non-campus property” under the Clery Act definition. For travel, this includes any property the institution owns, rents, or uses “in direct support of, or in relation to, the institution's educational purposes” and that is “frequently used by students.” Recurring study abroad sites, athletic facilities, and research stations can all qualify.
2. Crime statistics collection and reporting. For each identified non-campus property, the institution must make a good-faith effort to collect crime statistics from local law enforcement and include them in the Annual Security Report. This applies to Clery geography that may span multiple countries and jurisdictions.
3. Campus Security Authority (CSA) designation and training. Staff who organize or lead university travel often qualify as CSAs by virtue of their role. These individuals must understand their obligation to report specific crimes (murder, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking) to the institution's Clery compliance office.
4. Timely warning obligations. If a Clery-reportable crime occurs at a non-campus location and poses an ongoing threat to the campus community, the institution must issue a timely warning. For travel programs, this may require communication protocols that enable rapid notification across time zones and international boundaries.
5. Security policies for travel programs.The institution's Annual Security Report must describe its security policies, including those applicable to off-campus programs. This includes travel safety assessment procedures, emergency protocols, and the process for reporting crimes at off-campus locations.
6. Emergency response and notification. Institutions must have procedures for responding to significant emergencies or dangerous situations, including those affecting students traveling off campus. These procedures must be tested at least annually, and the results must be documented and made publicly available.
7. Daily crime log. Institutions with campus police or security departments must maintain a public crime log that includes crimes reported at non-campus locations. Entries must be made within two business days of the report.

How SafeTrekr Helps Universities Meet Clery Act Requirements

SafeTrekr provides the destination intelligence and documentation infrastructure that universities need to meet their Clery Act obligations for off-campus programs.

• Destination crime data analysis.Every SafeTrekr safety binder includes analysis of crime statistics at and around the destination, drawn from law enforcement databases, government sources, and risk intelligence feeds. This supports the institution's obligation to collect crime data for non-campus properties.
• Non-campus property documentation.SafeTrekr helps institutions maintain organized records of recurring travel destinations, making it easier to identify which locations qualify as non-campus property for Clery reporting purposes. Trip history and frequency data support the “frequently used by students” determination.
• Emergency protocol documentation.Safety binders include local emergency service contacts, hospital locations, embassy information (for international travel), and emergency communication protocols. This documentation supports the institution's emergency response planning obligations under the Clery Act.
• Analyst-reviewed risk assessments. Every safety binder is reviewed by a professional safety analyst who evaluates destination-specific risks. This creates an auditable record demonstrating that the institution performed due diligence before approving travel -- a key factor in both Clery compliance and institutional liability protection.
• Institutional documentation trail.SafeTrekr maintains timestamped records of every safety binder generated, every risk assessment completed, and every update to destination conditions. This documentation supports the institution's Annual Security Report disclosures and provides evidence of systematic safety practices.
• Pre-departure risk communication.SafeTrekr's safety binders can be shared with trip leaders, participants, and institutional stakeholders before travel begins. This supports the institution's obligation to inform the campus community about safety conditions and contributes to transparent communication required by the Clery Act.

Learn more about how SafeTrekr serves colleges and universities, or request a demo to see how our platform supports Clery Act compliance.