Going to college opens doors to knowledge, growth, and new experiences - sometimes of the supernatural kind. With Halloween around the corner, our curiosity about which academic halls are home to ghostly inhabitants was piqued. So, we embarked on a spooky journey to unearth the most haunted universities in the U.S. The ranking system we created is a concoction of various spectral criteria, such as ghost sightings and haunted campus locations.
We also surveyed 883 recent university attendees to learn more about their paranormal experiences and to gather firsthand spine-tingling accounts. As the leaves fall and the shadows creep, let's step into the haunted realms of academia and uncover the tales of the eerie entities that may be sharing your campus, giving you a glimpse into the unknown - just in time for Halloween!
Key takeaways
- The most haunted universities in the U.S. are Fordham University, CUNY - City College, the University of Denver, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, and the University of Vermont.
- 13% of college students believe their campus is haunted, and 12% believe their dorm is.
- Over 1 in 3 students who had a paranormal experience had difficulty concentrating on their studies because of it.
- 22% of those who had a paranormal experience sought help after their encounter.
- 30% of those who had a paranormal experience saw a ghostly apparition or figure.
Eerie excellence: A spooky exploration of U.S. universities
In the spirit of Halloween, we explored the mystical and the eerie to unveil the universities most shrouded in whispers and shadows. To create the meta-ranking below, we factored in the number of cemeteries, haunted house attractions, spiritual shops, ghost sightings, and haunted campus locations across 240 American universities. Each school had over 10,000 students, and to level the playing field, we ranked each factor per 1,000 students.
The results are in, and the top five most haunted universities in America are:
- Fordham University
- CUNY - City College
- University of Denver
- Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
- University of Vermont
Let's dig a little deeper into three of these spooky spots to see what propelled them to the top of our list.
Fordham University
Overall ranking: 1
Cemeteries Rank: 5
Haunted House Attractions Rank: 9
Spiritual Shops Rank: 9
Ghost Sightings Rank: 29
Haunted Campus Locations Rank: 2
Fordham University, nestled in the Bronx, New York, emerged as the most haunted college, with a score of 72.87. Founded in 1841, Fordham is over 180 years old, which has given it plenty of time to gather ghost stories. The average annual cost for an undergraduate student to attend the most haunted university is $56,161. If you go there, keep your wits about you in Keating Hall, Queen's Court, Martyr's Court, and most importantly, Finlay residence hall - the former location of Fordham's medical school and countless cadavers.
CUNY - City College
Overall ranking: 2
Cemeteries Rank: 1
Haunted House Attractions Rank: 2
Spiritual Shops Rank: 1
Ghost Sightings Rank: 55
Haunted Campus Locations Rank: 74
With a score of 72.16, CUNY - City College, located in Harlem, New York, secured the second spot. The average annual cost for an undergraduate student to attend the second-most haunted university is $7,340 (in-state) and $15,290 (out-of-state). While ghost sightings and haunted campus spots were less common here than at Fordham, City College had more cemeteries and spiritual shops near campus than any other school. They also had plenty of haunted house attractions nearby for those looking to seek out scares.
University of Denver
Overall ranking: 3
Cemeteries Rank: 48
Haunted House Attractions Rank: 1
Spiritual Shops Rank: 7
Ghost Sightings Rank: 27
Haunted Campus Locations Rank: 24
The University of Denver, with its blend of scholarly and spectral offerings, ranked third with a score of 49.62. The average annual cost for an undergraduate student is $53,775, whether in-state or out-of-state. While the Mile High City has plenty of Colorado haunts, staff and students have most often been creeped out on campus by two female ghosts, each with their own building - Margery Reed Hall and the Mary Reed Building.
Now that we've looked at the overall college rankings,let's unearth a breakdown of the schools by category.
The University of Vermont is renowned for its numerous supposedly haunted campus locations, but colleges in Texas nearly swept the top five for the most ghost sightings per 1,000 students. Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi was the school with the most spectral experiences, followed by The University of Texas at El Paso, Southern Methodist University, and Texas Christian University. Interestingly, St. John's University (NY) held a prominent spot for spiritual shops despite its lack of cemeteries.
Looking for a school with fewer supernatural spooks? Try Liberty University, Penn State, or (surprisingly) the main campus of Texas A&M in College Station; all ranked low in paranormal activity across multiple categories.
Student tales of the supernatural
Having identified the most haunted schools, we decided to survey recent college students about their experiences with the paranormal at their universities. How many encountered the unexplained, and what emotions did these experiences evoke?
Overall, 13% of students surveyed genuinely believed their campus was haunted, with nearly the same number (12%) believing their dorm was. Some students also believed that the following paranormal creatures or entities were real.
Notably, half of the college students surveyed believed in ghosts, and those who had experienced or witnessed paranormal activity on campus were 66% more likely to. Encounters of a different kind were fairly common: 1 in 3 students had either had a paranormal experience at school or knew a student who had. It got even spookier when we asked about what had happened to them.
Students' responses were varied, but they most often heard unexplainable noises or footsteps (59%), sensed an unseen presence (45%), or felt sudden temperature changes (34%). Another 30% reported seeing ghostly figures or apparitions, and nearly one-quarter saw doors or windows opening and closing by themselves or other objects moving on their own.
As we went deeper into the world of haunted campuses, we couldn't ignore the spine-tingling stories that college students shared, recounting their firsthand encounters with the unexplained and the supernatural.
Dealing with the paranormal isn't easy for everyone: 22% said they sought help to cope with their unearthly experiences. Next, we'll discuss how these disturbances affected their college studies and living.
The top ways these unearthly encounters impacted students' college experiences included causing sleep disturbances or insomnia (50%), increasing anxiety or stress (38%), and creating difficulty concentrating on studies (35%). Seeking guidance and coping mechanisms from professionals would likely help alleviate these issues.
Unseen impact on university life
If you're hunting for some spectral excitement along with your degree, some colleges might have more to offer than just education. Just be careful that your search for the supernatural doesn't affect your studies. If you want to avoid the spooks and scares, refer again to our rankings of the least haunted universities. Lastly, if you've had a ghostly encounter and need help coping with it, consider seeking help from health or spiritual services on (or off) campus.
Methodology
To explore the most haunted universities in the U.S., we collected data from Yelp, The Shadowlands, and Ghosts of America for 240 universities with over 10,000 in total student population. The ranking was weighed by the following criteria below:
- Cemeteries Rank (per 1,000 students) - 16%
- Haunted House Attractions Rank (per 1,000 students) - 16%
- Spiritual Shops (per 1,000 students) - 16%
- Ghost Sightings (per 1,000 students) - 26%
- Haunted Campus Locations (per 1,000 students) - 26%
Additionally, we surveyed 883 respondents who currently attend or have attended university in the last five years.
About College Rover
College Rover is your reliable guide to navigating America's higher education landscape, providing insightful and comprehensive information to help you find the perfect university fit for your academic and personal goals.
Fair use statement
Fascinated by our exploration of haunted universities? You're welcome to share these spooky findings for noncommercial purposes only; please ensure you provide a link back to this page so readers can delve deeper into our ghostly revelations.
