The Daily Beast news blog has ranked Washington University as the nation’s 13th most dangerous college, a ranking that University officials question for its methodology.

Students also disagree with the rankings released last week and some even wonder if it’s linked to crime in the St. Louis area.

“I’m surprised by the ranking because I feel the campus is very safe, and WUPD is always present,” sophomore Roseanna Zhang said. “Off-campus, however, is a different story, and I don’t dare to walk alone at night outside of campus.”

The University called the rankings “flawed and…not a credible analysis of crime pattern” in a statement released last week.

The administration said that the statistics measure both the Danforth Campus and the medical campus, meaning there is a higher population and a higher chance of crime than other universities.

The Daily Beast researched almost 500 schools and included nine types of crimes weighted by their severity. Murder, for instance, carries a heavier weight than robbery.

Boston’s Tufts University was ranked the most dangerous school, followed by the University of Maryland and Harvard.

Washington University was ranked just after Illinois Institute of Technology and just ahead of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Daily Beast cited one murder and 22 forcible rapes among other crimes at the University in the past three years.

The Daily Beast did not immediately return messages left for comment late Sunday.

Tufts also questioned its ranking as the most dangerous university. The Daily Beast responded to the Somerville Journal, a local publication: “The same, consistent standard was applied to all colleges on this list, which is to include crimes reported both on campus and around campus, based on federal data supplied by the schools themselves. The Daily Beast of course stands behind its college crime rankings.”

The Daily Beast also ranked the safest colleges, naming Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisc.; New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, N.Y.; and Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y., as the top three.

In a statement released by the University regarding the ranking, officials said that “it should be noted that the University has a campus culture that encourages reporting of incidents…and it realizes that its attention to security and encouragement of reporting may have contributed to the level of crime reported.”

Even with recent muggings near campus, students still feel safe, at least on campus.

“I don’t feel unsafe on campus, but off campus, I don’t think I would want to be walking around alone at night…. It’s pretty dark on the walk to the Loop,” said junior Katherine Wang.

Other students believe that the University’s location in St. Louis is to blame for its lower rankings.

“I figured we were safer, but that’s probably the best we could do in this city,” said freshman Caroline Awh.

With additional reporting by the news staff.