Most large U.S. college campuses report at least 2 sexual assaults a year. Experts say the data undercounts victimization.

Jane Doe in the Cornell University case is one of more than 45,000 people who have reported being raped or sexually assaulted to their college or university between 2019 and 2024, according to federal data — and experts say that number wildly undercounts campus sexual violence.

More than 80% of the largest four-year colleges and universities reported incidents of rape or fondling at least twice a year, on average, between 2019 and 2024, according to CBS News' analysis of the data that schools reported to the U.S. Department of Education. 

That includes 238 incidents reported at Cornell during that 6-year timeframe, the data shows, or an average of 8 incidents per 5,000 students each year. That's compared to an average rate of about 4 incidents per 5,000 students each year across all large schools with at least that many students enrolled. 

The federal data includes both on-campus and some off-campus incidents, and counts reports made to "campus security authority" individuals, like campus police or Title IX officials. The numbers are compiled in response to a law called the Jeane Clery Act. 

But these numbers fail to capture students who were sexually assaulted and chose not to report it. Surveys show about 1 in 5 undergraduate students say they experienced at least one incident of sexual violence, but the majority are never reported.

Even some of the reports made to universities are absent from the data, studies show. Beyond police, the Clery Act gives a university discretion on who to consider a security authority and who to apply the reporting requirements to. The law does not require any formal training for campus security authorities.

Some universities may also be excluding reports they deem to be unfounded or that the victim chooses not to pursue, said Corey Rayburn Yung, a law professor at the University of Kansas who studies criminal law and sexual violence. Schools have been fined in the past for underreporting.

"Schools view sexual violence as a public relations problem," Yung told CBS News. "They don't want to be the school that has the highest rape rate and they will do whatever they can to make it seem safer than it is."

In a 2015 study, he found that during audits of universities' compliance with the Clery Act, reports of rape and fondling went up by 44% overall, only to decline again after the audit concluded. Other crimes tracked in the data, like aggravated assault, robbery and burglary, did not see the same patterns.

"The numbers just don't seem to match with the survey data and even the criminal reporting data in similar jurisdictions," Yung said. "This is indicative … [that] schools are not telling us the full story of reporting and giving an impression that the campuses just don't have nearly the degree of sexual violence that they likely do."

Still, the Clery Act data paints a picture of frequent assault. At more than a third of large schools, students reported rapes or sexual assaults more than once a month on average, CBS News' analysis found.  

Sara Wilf, an assistant professor of social work at George Mason University who has researched campus sexual violence, said a lack of confidential resources, as well as significant gaps in students' knowledge of the resources available to them, also limits reporting. 

Her research found that about half of the students surveyed in California did not know what the Title IX office did, and about a third said sexual assault and harassment trainings were ineffective or they could not remember them. 

Many victims are also concerned their reports won't be taken seriously, or question whether they would be deemed sexual assault at all. 

"The survivor goes through this process of thinking, 'Does this count as sexual violence? Was this sexual violence?' And it can take years," Wilf told CBS News. "This word 'counts' was used over and over and over again in these open-ended responses by survivors." 

Wilf said the No. 1 resource survey respondents reported wanting on campus was a confidential advocate, or someone who can help guide victims through the "dizzying constellation of decisions they have to make" in the aftermath of the incident while still processing trauma. This includes helping them navigate any investigations or reports they may choose to make. The University of California system has installed such advocates on its campuses.  

While few incidents are reported, even fewer result in university Title IX investigations and disciplinary actions, as was the case in the alleged gang rape at Cornell. 

The then-20-year-old Cornell student known as Jane Doe alleges she was drugged and raped in October 2024. She filed a civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault nearly two years later against seven former fraternity brothers at Cornell, as well as the university and others she alleges failed to protect her. Prosecutors did not charge anyone but have now reopened the criminal investigation. Two of the accused in the case were expelled, two suspended for at least two semesters, one had already graduated before any punishment could be handed down, and two were found not to be responsible for sexual misconduct, Cornell President Michael I. Kotlikoff said on Sept. 29. Lawyers for two of the men have provided statements to CBS News denying the accusations against their clients. Others have not made public statements.

The two students expelled at Cornell as part of Jane Doe's case were two of five people expelled from the school between 2019 and 2024, among 171 sexual misconduct cases brought to the university to investigate, New York state data shows.

Across the entire state of New York, 246 people were expelled or dismissed during that timeframe, and 464 were suspended. Taken together, that represents a fifth of all incidents investigated, and 3% of all the cases initially reported to the state's colleges and universities. The state data also include domestic violence and stalking alongside sexual assault. 

"Survivors hear from other students how the Title IX process failed them," Wilf said. "And so, they are much less likely to seek out support on campus."

Cornell says it "conducted an extensive investigation and adjudication over several months and imposed different sanctions based on the findings and circumstances involving each student," and has posted information about its response to the allegations here. 

About the analysis

CBS News examined data on rape and fondling incidents reported by 4-year universities and colleges to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Campus Safety and Security that had at least 5,000 students enrolled in in-person or hybrid courses. Rape is defined as sexual penetration without consent, while fondling is defined as nonconsensual touching. The Clery Act data includes incidents on campus, off-campus properties owned or controlled by an official student organization, off-campus properties frequently used by the school or students, and public property within the campus or immediately adjacent to the campus. Incidents are included based on where they happened, and can include undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty members or family members.