From North Texas to East Texas, sexual assault remains a serious threat to college women. National surveys, university crime reports and three Texas criminal convictions reveal a troubling reality: Many victims never report what happened.
SEAGOVILLE — For thousands of Texas families, sending a daughter to college represents an important milestone.
But beyond the excitement of moving into a dormitory, meeting classmates and beginning a new chapter, a disturbing question remains: How safe are young women on college campuses?
Federal crime reports, student surveys and documented Texas criminal cases show that sexual violence remains a serious problem at universities of all sizes.
The danger is not limited to isolated parking lots or encounters with strangers. It can involve classmates, acquaintances and people students already trust.
And the statistics may reveal only part of the problem.
One in Four Undergraduate Women
According to the Association of American Universities’ 2019 Campus Climate Survey, approximately 26% of undergraduate women at 33 participating universities reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving physical force or an inability to consent since enrolling.
That category includes rape and other forms of unwanted sexual contact. It does not mean that 26% reported being raped.
The figure recalls warnings from a landmark 1980s study that helped bring campus rape into national discussion. However, differences in definitions and research methods prevent a precise comparison across four decades.
The risk begins early. The 2019 survey found that 16% of undergraduate women experienced nonconsensual sexual contact during their first year.
These findings raise an uncomfortable question: After decades of prevention programs, federal reporting requirements and public attention, why does sexual violence remain so prevalent?
Are Texas Colleges Safer?
Texas has some encouraging comparative figures, but the evidence does not establish that the state’s universities are safer overall.
In the AAU’s 2015 survey of 27 universities:
- 23.1% of female undergraduates across participating institutions reported sexual assault involving force or incapacitation.
- 18.5% reported such experiences at the University of Texas at Austin.
- 14.8% reported them at Texas A&M University.
Both Texas institutions were below the participating-university average.
But these figures are more than a decade old, and the survey did not represent every Texas college. The results cannot establish a current statewide safety advantage.
Another survey produced troubling findings closer to North Texas.
In 2017, the University of Texas at Arlington reported that 8% of responding undergraduate women had experienced rape since enrolling.
The survey also found that 87% of reported physical-violence incidents, including rape, dating violence and unwanted sexual contact, occurred off campus.
That distinction matters because assaults affecting college students do not necessarily occur on university property.
The UT Arlington study measured rape differently from the broader national sexual-contact survey. Their percentages cannot be directly compared.
East Texas: What University Records Reveal
Official campus crime reports show that rape allegations continue to be reported at regional universities.
At the University of Texas at Tyler, the institution’s 2025 Annual Security Report documented six on-campus rape reports in 2024, including five associated with student residential facilities.
Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches reported five on-campus rapes in 2024, all classified within campus housing.
Smaller private institutions publish statistics, too.
LeTourneau University in Longview reported one on-campus rape in 2023 and none in 2024.
East Texas Baptist University in Marshall reported no rapes in its on-campus crime statistics for 2022 through 2024.
These differences do not prove one institution is safer than another.
The figures count qualifying crimes reported to campus authorities, not every assault experienced by students. They also do not mean that every report led to an arrest or conviction.
North Texas institutions, including the University of North Texas in Denton, also maintain public crime records. UNT posted sexual-assault crime alerts during 2026.
The Sexual Assaults That Never Get Reported
Perhaps the most troubling finding involves women who experience sexual violence but never report it to police or university officials.
The AAU’s 2015 study found that reporting rates ranged from 5% to 28%, depending on the misconduct involved and the reporting channel measured.
Among the reasons students gave were embarrassment, emotional distress, doubts that officials would respond effectively and beliefs that incidents were not serious enough to report.
Some survivors fear retaliation or the possibility of being blamed, particularly when alcohol, dating relationships or popular student organizations are involved.
That means the absence of a police report does not establish that an assault never occurred.
It also explains why an increase in reported campus crimes is not necessarily evidence that more assaults are happening. Greater confidence in reporting systems can bring previously hidden incidents into official statistics.
Three Texas Students Sentenced to Prison
Three documented criminal convictions illustrate how campus sexual violence can involve people students know rather than unknown attackers.
1. Elton Yarbrough — Texas A&M University: 18 Years
In 2006, former Texas A&M student and Corps of Cadets member Elton Yarbrough was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
A Center for Public Integrity investigation documented testimony from five women, including four A&M students, who accused him of sexual misconduct between 2003 and 2006.
Yarbrough was tried and convicted on one sexual-assault charge, not all five accusations.
The investigation described concerns about how quickly information reached university administrators and how earlier complaints were handled.
2. Tevin Elliott — Baylor University: 20 Years
Former Baylor football player Tevin Elliott was convicted in January 2014 of two sexual-assault counts involving a Baylor student.
A McLennan County jury sentenced him to 20 years in prison, with the sentences running concurrently.
The assaults occurred in 2012. During the trial, additional women testified about earlier alleged assaults, but the conviction concerned the two charges involving the Baylor student.
Reporting by The Baylor Lariat described the survivor’s academic difficulties following the assaults, including losing a scholarship and temporarily leaving school.
3. David Watson — Texas Tech University: 10 Years
David Watson, who met the female victim in a class they shared at Texas Tech University, was convicted of sexual assault in Lubbock County.
A jury sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Court records describe threats involving intimate recordings and sexual activity the woman testified was forced.
The Texas Seventh Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction in June 2016.
These are historical cases, not newly committed crimes. Their significance lies in demonstrating how perpetrators can be classmates, friends or familiar members of campus communities.
Why Hasn’t the Problem Disappeared?
Sexual violence is not simply a campus-security problem that can be solved with additional lighting and surveillance cameras.
According to statistics compiled by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 60% of reported rapes involving victims ages 17–24 in the research it cites involved someone known to the victim.
Prevention therefore requires more than warnings about strangers.
Federal Title IX protections and the Jeanne Clery Act establish important responsibilities for colleges, including responses to sex discrimination and public disclosure of specified campus crimes.
Texas also requires most college employees who learn of certain sexual misconduct involving students or employees to report that information to designated university officials, subject to statutory exceptions.
However, mandatory reporting rules cannot guarantee that a student will disclose an assault.
Universities must also maintain accessible confidential support, effective investigations, protections against retaliation and prevention programs addressing consent, coercion and alcohol-related vulnerability.
What Seagoville and Crandall Parents Should Ask
For families whose daughters attend Dallas College, UT Arlington, UNT, Texas A&M, Stephen F. Austin, UT Tyler or smaller private institutions, choosing a college should involve examining more than academic rankings and tuition.
Parents and students should review the school’s annual security report, confidential counseling options, sexual-misconduct procedures and emergency notification system.
They should ask how students report assaults, whether support is available without filing a police complaint, and what accommodations are available when a survivor shares classes or housing with an accused student.
Ultimately, the question is not simply how many rapes a college reports.
It is whether students can seek help without intimidation, whether complaints receive appropriate investigations, and whether universities do enough to prevent sexual violence before another student is harmed.
Until those questions receive convincing answers, college sexual assault will remain an important public-safety issue for Texas families.
Anyone affected by sexual assault can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit RAINN.org for confidential support.
