Justice Dept. awards $8.5 million in grants for campus violence prevention

Nineteen percent of undergraduate women reported experiencing completed or attempted sexual assault since entering college, according to The Campus Sexual Assault (CSA) Study conducted by the National Institute of Justice.

What's more, the study found only 2% of victims of incapacitated rape reported their assaults to law enforcement.

So, the Justice Department is taking action.

The department announced Sept. 2 that it has awarded $8.5 million in grant money to 27 universities nationwide. Institutions will use the money to "enhance victim services and develop programs to prevent, investigate and respond to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking on campus."

The Justice Department will require grant recipients to "conduct mandatory prevention and education programming for all incoming students and to train campus law enforcement and all members of campus disciplinary boards to respond effectively to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. "

Grant recipients for the 2015 fiscal year are:

• Asnuntuck Community College, Enfield, Conn.

• Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.

• Avila University, Kansas City, Mo.

• Bates College, Lewiston, Maine

• Cabrini College, Radnor, Penn.

• Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, Fla.

• Edmonds Community College, Lynnwood, Wash.

• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, Fla

• Humboldt State University, Arcata, Calif.

• Indian Hills Community College, Ottumwa, Iowa

• Juniata College, Huntingdon, Penn.

• Mars Hill University, Mars Hill, N.C.

• Messiah College, Mechanicsburg, Penn.

• Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, Miss.

• Passaic County Community College, Paterson, N.J.

• Saint Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, Ind.

• Salam State University, Salem, Mass.

• Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, Mont.

• Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Joint Community College, Redding, Calif.

• The College of New Jersey, Ewing, N.J.

• University of Nevada at Reno, Reno, Nev.

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.

• University of Puerto Rico at Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico

• University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.

• University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas

• Valencia College, Orlando, Fla.

• Washburn University of Topeka, Topeka, Kan.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.