Menlo College Named Safest California College by Independent Safety Organization

ATHERTON, CA – A new report by BackgroundCheck.org called “Safest Colleges in California 2016” ranked over 140 universities and colleges in the Golden State. The rankings are based on combined data from recent Department of Education Reports, natural language analysis, social media sentiment analysis and independent research. Menlo College, based in Atherton in the Silicon Valley, ranked first among the 50 universities and colleges in California that made the list.

In addition to 24-hour campus security and surveillance, Menlo also has a mobile safety app called “LiveSafe” which provides a fast and efficient communications tool between students and campus safety officials.

“Menlo College views campus safety and security as an important responsibility shared by the campus community," says Richard A. Moran, president of Menlo College. "Our campus security officers work 24x7, offering fast emergency and safety responses to our students at all hours. Together, we have created an incredibly safe environment for our community.”

The city of Atherton, home to Menlo College, also maintains a comparatively low crime rate for Silicon Valley. NeighborhoodScout, an online database of U.S. neighborhood analytics, notes “Atherton is considered to be safer than the majority of cities, towns, and villages in America (69%), and also has a lower crime rate than 90 percent of the communities in California, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI crime data.”

"It's a true testament to a great administration, strong leadership, student and community involvement," says Jessica Pierce, a BackgroundChecks.org public safety analyst. "In a world full of bad news, it's great to have something positive for residents, and it's something to be proud of."

To view the “Safest Colleges in California 2016” rankings, please visit: backgroundchecks.org/50-safest-colleges-in-california-2016.html

About Menlo College
Menlo College was established in 1927 in Atherton, CA, as a small, private, non-profit school that focuses on business administration and psychology, with a strong liberal arts emphasis. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley thirty minutes south of San Francisco, Menlo has been named among the "Best Colleges in the West" by The Princeton Review seven years running, and a U.S. News "Best Regional College" for the last five years. www.menlo.edu.

About Background Checks.org
Background Checks.org is a public safety focused organization committed to increasing public safety, community involvement, transparent government and education.

Featured

  • Wenger Names New Vice President of Sales for Performing Arts, Controls

    Wenger Corporation, which provides products and solutions for music and theater education, performing arts and athletic storage, recently announced the hiring of a new Vice President of Sales for Performing Arts and Controls.

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Barbara Vick Western Branch

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Barbara Vick Western Branch has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.