A woman walks on a path at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Reports of rapes on New Jersey college campuses continued to climb in 2017, but advocates say that may be because student victims are finding it easier to come forward and speak about sexual violence.

There were 148 rape reports at New Jersey's four-year colleges and universities in 2017, according to an NJ Advance Media review of annual crime reports filed on 27 residential campuses. That is a 7 percent increase over the previous year and a 33 percent increase over 2015.

There were also 61 reports of fondling and 59 reports of dating violence in 2017, according to the data. Those numbers fell slightly compared to the previous year.

The rising number of reported rapes -- which went from 111 in 2015 to 148 in 2017 -- is likely a result of the #MeToo movement and efforts by New Jersey campuses to increase awareness of the ways victims can report sexual violence, said Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a statewide advocacy group.

It is unlikely there has been an actual surge in rapes on New Jersey campuses over the last two years, Teffenhart said. Instead, advocates expect more people are reporting rapes and the numbers will continue to rise in upcoming years.

"Obviously, we want to see a reduction in incidents of sexual violence," Teffenhart said. "But, we should expect this trend to continue."

Here are the number of reported incidents at each of New Jersey's four-year colleges with residential campuses. They are listed from the least amount of rape reports to the most:

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Fairleigh Dickinson University- Metropolitan Campus

Enrollment: 7,846

2017

Rapes: 0

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 0

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College of Saint Elizabeth

Enrollment: 1,141

2017

Rapes: 0

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 0

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Saint Peter's University

Enrollment: 3,524

2017

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 0

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Caldwell University

Enrollment: 2,206

2017

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 0

2016

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 0

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New Jersey City University

Enrollment: 8,283

2017

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 3

2016

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 1

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Rider University

Enrollment: 5,073

2017

Rapes: 2

Fondling: 3

2016

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 7

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Bloomfield College

Enrollment: 1,842

2017

Rapes: 2

Fondling: 0

2016

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 1

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New Jersey Institute of Technology

Enrollment: 11,446

2017

Rapes: 2

Fondling: 0

2016

Rapes: 3

Fondling: 0

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Centenary University

Enrollment: 1,990

2017

Rapes: 2

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 7

Fondling: 2

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Georgian Court University

Enrollment: 2,390

2017

Rapes: 3

Fondling: 0

2016

Rapes: 0

Fondling: 0

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Rutgers-Camden

Enrollment: 7,171

2017

Rapes: 3

Fondling: 0

2016

Rapes: 0

Fondling: 0

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Felician University

Enrollment: 1,996

2017

Forceable sex offenses: 3*

2016

Forceable sex offenses: 1

(* Felician's report lists the number of forceable sex offense reports without breaking out how many were alleged rapes or fondling.)

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Rutgers-Newark

Enrollment: 13,451

2017

Rapes: 3

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 1

Fondling: 0

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Seton Hall University

Enrollment: 9,801

2017

Rapes: 4

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 3

Fondling: 1

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William Paterson University

Enrollment: 10,252

2017

Rapes: 4

Fondling: 4

2016

Rapes: 7

Fondling: 5

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Drew University

Enrollment: 2,117

2017

Rapes: 5

Fondling: 3

2016

Rapes: 7

Fondling: 7

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Fairleigh Dickinson University - Florham Campus

Enrollment: 3,512

2017

Rapes: 5

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 7

Fondling4:

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The College of New Jersey

Enrollment: 7,552

2017

Rapes: 5

Fondling: 4

2016

Rapes: 12

Fondling: 11

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Stevens Institute of Technology

Enrollment: 6,916

2017

Rapes: 6

Fondling: 0

2016

Rapes: 2

Fondling: 6

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Stockton University

Enrollment: 9,216

2017

Rapes: 6

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 5

Fondling: 1

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Kean University

Enrollment: 14,226

2017

Rapes: 7

Fondling: 2

2016

Rapes: 7

Fondling: 0

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Monmouth University

Enrollment: 6,340

2017

Rapes: 9

Fondling: 1

2016

Rapes: 4

Fondling: 0

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Montclair State University

Enrollment: 21,013

2017

Rapes: 9

Fondling: 2

2016

Rapes: 7

Fondling: 6

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Ramapo College

Enrollment: 6,120

2017

Rapes: 10

Fondling: 3

2016

Rapes: 11

Fondling: 5

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Princeton University

Enrollment: 8,273

2017

Rapes: 12

Fondling: 16

2016

Rapes: 13

Fondling: 5

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Rowan University

Enrollment: 18,484

2017

Rapes: 13

Fondling: 4

2016

Rapes: 12

Fondling: 5

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Rutgers University- New Brunswick/ Piscataway

Enrollment: 50,254

2017

Rapes: 30

Fondling: 8

2016

Rapes: 23

Fondling: 8

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Where did these numbers come from?

There is no central location that tracks rape and sexual violence reports on college campuses statewide. Instead, each campus is required to publish the previous year's crime statistics on its website every fall.

NJ Advance Media reviewed the reports for the 27 New Jersey schools with residential campuses and totaled the number of rape and fondling reports. The numbers are for 2017, the latest available statistics.

Colleges are required to publish their crime statistics under the federal Clery Act, the federal law named after Jeanne Clery, a student raped and murdered in her dorm room at Lehigh University in 1986.

The law originally required schools to report the total number of "forcible sex offenses," a term covering multiple sex crimes. Starting in 2015, the law was changed so colleges were required to break out the number of rape reports on campus for the first time.

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How accurate are these statistics?

Critics have long said it is difficult to know if the numbers in campus Clery reports are accurate. Some colleges have been accused of failing to include all reported crimes in their reports, including those in neighborhoods bordering their campuses where students live.

Advocates say they are often concerned about campuses that report zero rapes year after year. That may mean the college has not set up a system where student victims are comfortable reporting sexual violence.

Tracking exactly how many sexual assaults are committed on campuses is also difficult, said Teffenhart, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Many rape survivors don't speak about their sexual assaults for years or turn to off-campus rape crisis centers or other places for support. They may never speak to a campus police officer to report a rape.

"They will never show up in a campus Clery report," Teffenhart said.

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Defining 'rape' on campus

The federal law gives specific definitions of rape, fondling, dating violence and other sex crimes reported in the campus Clery reports.

The rape of women or men is defined as "the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus, with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim."

Fondling is defined as "the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity."

Dating violence is sexual or physical abuse by someone in a relationship, including the threat of violence, according to the federal definition.

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Colleges making changes

Some college officials in New Jersey said the rise in the number of reported rapes is a sign that some of their sexual assault awareness campaigns and training sessions may be working.

At Monmouth University, the number of reported rapes jumped from three in 2015 to nine in 2017, according to the campus crime report. The private university had dedicated weeks of campus programming, orientation training sessions and an online awareness campaign to sexual assault, officials said.

"The increase in reports received demonstrates that our campus community is not only aware of the university process and procedures available to them, but also that they trust this process enough to come forward and report incidents of sexual violence and misconduct," said Nina Anderson, Monmouth University's director of the office of equity and diversity and Title IX coordinator.

Rutgers University's New Brunswick-Piscataway campus continues to lead the state in the number of reported rapes on campus. There were 30 reported rapes in 2017, seven more than the previous year.

Because Rutgers' main campus is the largest in the state by far, with more than 50,000 students, it is not a surprise that it also has the most rape reports. The state university has also received grant money in recent years to improve its services for sexual assault victims and has worked to raise awareness about the issue.

“Rutgers-New Brunswick provides comprehensive education, prevention and support services dealing with sexual violence, and encourages victims to report crimes and receive the resources they need," said Salvador Mena, vice chancellor for student affairs at Rutgers–New Brunswick.

Rutgers recently formed a University Committee on the Prevention of Sexual Harassment to review its sexual misconduct policies following an NJ Advance Media report published in October that found the state university declined to investigate some sexual harassment complaints against professors.

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Concerns about the future

The increase in rape reports in New Jersey began as the Obama administration was rewriting federal guidance to put more pressure on college campuses to change how they handle sexual assault and harassment allegations.

The Trump administration rolled back some of those reforms and federal Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has proposed other changes that could limit the allegations colleges must investigate. Those changes have been praised by groups that say men on campuses have been unfairly punished because the federal rules are weighted to believe the alleged victims.

"We can, and must, condemn sexual violence and punish those who perpetrate it, while ensuring a fair grievance process. Those are not mutually exclusive ideas," DeVos said in November.

It is unclear how the Trump administration changes might affect the number of students filing sexual violence reports on campus. Advocates say they are keeping a close watch on whether the number of reported rapes continues to rise.

"We should be concerned if we see these number tip back," said Teffenhart, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.

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(Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Read more about sexual misconduct in N.J.:

Tell us your experiences with allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment in New Jersey: Here's how to share your story.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.