CHARLOTTE -- New federal data shows nearly 100 college and universities had at least 10 reports of rape on their campuses in 2014.  UNC Charlotte had 32, putting the school in the top ten across the nation for the highest number of reported rapes.

Christine Reed Davis, the Dean of Students at UNC Charlotte, says the numbers mean more people are reporting sexual assault - and that's a good thing.

"We're creating that culture of reporting," Davis said. "Because for a long time people either didn't want to come forward because they were nervous about what was going to happen or they didn't know where to go."

Over the past two years, UNCC has created a specific office dedicated a specific office dedicated to the typically unreported crime and has given more information to students about where and how to report.

"Ultimately our hope is we provide that student with the opportunity to share with us what happened, and that we respond in a way that is caring, nurturing and supportive," said Davis.

Still, Davis says any number of reported rapes is concerning, and they're working hard to prevent sexual assault by educating their community.

"We feel like it's very important to talk to our students, our faculty, our parents about this topic that's normally been taboo," said Davis.

Sexual assaults do happen on college campuses, and Davis believes providing a culture of trust and care in the aftermath is important.

"So we don't want people to not report," she said. "We want people to continue to report, and we're providing more support to that and that's a great thing."

The university is still calculating the number of reported rapes for 2015. UNCC has to provide that data to the Department of Education in October.

A Washington Post analysis of the federal data found these 10 schools had the highest total of rape reports on their main campuses in 2014:

  • Brown: 43
  • U-Conn.: 43
  • Dartmouth College: 42
  • Wesleyan University: 37
  • University of Virginia: 35
  • Harvard: 33
  • University of North Carolina at Charlotte: 32
  • Rutgers-New Brunswick: 32
  • University of Vermont: 27
  • Stanford: 26