Despite the decrease in overall crime rates at institutes of higher learning in the U.S., a new study released Tuesday revealed that sexual assault reports at college campus have jumped more than 50 percent over the last 10 years.

According to a U.S. Department of Education study on school crime and safety, the rate of reported "forcible sex crimes" on campus increased by 52 percent in a decade. Back in 2011, there were 2,220 reports, compared to 3,330 reports in 2011.

Ironically, the number of campus crimes in every other category, including burglary and car theft, declined during the same time frame, The Associated Press reported.

The report, which a joint publication of the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, also found that the number of on-campus crimes reported to police declined from 41,600 in 2001 to 30,400 in 2011 at both public and private schools.

The 52 percent hike in college sexual assault reports is consistent with a report published earlier this year from NPR that found that "forcible rape" reports at four-year colleges spiked to 49 percent between 2008 and 2012. Likewise, the Boston Globe conducted an investigation into federal data and revealed that "forcible sex offense" reports increased by nearly 40 percent in Boston-area colleges between 2008 and 2012.

However, according to NPR, the statistics could indicate that more victims are willing to come forward to report sex crimes, which is a good thing:

"That increase shows that sexual assault is a persistent and ugly problem on college campuses. But there's also a way to look at the rise in reports and see something positive: It means more students are willing to come forward and report this underreported crime."

"When we see sexual assault numbers increase, that hopefully means the barriers to reporting are finally beginning to be addressed, which means you are beginning the steps to solve the problem," said S. Daniel Carter, director of the 32 National Campus Safety Initiative, to The Boston Globe.