Many US universities view rape as a public relations issue and fail to report the total number of sexual assaults on their campuses, according to a new study.

Sexual assaults were significantly under-reported by 31 large private and public American universities from 2001 to 2012, researchers found.

However, during audits by the federal government, the number of reported sexual assaults rose an average of 44 percent compared to previously reported figures, according to the study published on Monday in the American Psychological Association.

"When it comes to sexual assault and rape, the norm for universities and colleges is to downplay the situation and the numbers," said study author Corey Rayburn Yung, a law professor at the University of Kansas.

"The result is students at many universities continue to be attacked and victimized, and punishment isn't meted out to the rapists and sexual assaulters," Yung said.

Many universities provided a more accurate picture of sexual assaults on campus only when they were under federal scrutiny, the study concluded. Some of the schools have continued to under-report even after being fined for violations of federal law, the study found.

Most of the audits were initiated following complaints about how schools handled sexual assaults or other violent crimes on campus. The audits were conducted by the US Department of Education and some universities were audited at random.

"Colleges and universities still are not taking the safety of their students from sexual assault seriously," Yung noted.

"The study shows that many universities continue to view rape and sexual assault as a public relations issue rather than a safety issue," he added.

College students in the United States reported nearly 5,000 forcible sex offenses in 2012, according to US Department of Education data.

Yet, a US Justice Department report in 2000 estimated that less than 5 percent of victims of rape attending college report their attack.

AHT/GJH