The percentage of students saying it is acceptable to shout down a speaker or use violence has increased since last year, according to the FIRE survey.
Columbia University and Barnard College were ranked the worst higher education institutions in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) annual free expression rankings. The report also showed that the percentage of students saying it is acceptable to shout down a speaker, block entry to a speech, or use violence to stop a speech on campus has increased since last year, while the percentage of students willing to allow controversial speakers has declined.
The sixth annual college free speech rankings, produced by FIRE in conjunction with the survey partner College Pulse, ranked 257 higher-education institutions based on nearly 70,000 student survey responses submitted from January through early June of this year.
Each college is evaluated with respect to reported levels of comfort expressing ideas, self-censorship, disruptive conduct, administrative support, openness, and political tolerance, as well as institutional policies on free expression (like a commitment to institutional neutrality), cases of de-platforming speakers, and instances of calls to punish students or faculty for their expression.
“The average overall score (58.63) is a failing grade in a college course,” reads the annual report, released on Monday. “Overall, 166 of the 257 schools surveyed got an F for their speech climate, while only 11 schools received a speech climate grade of C or higher.
Across all schools, only 8 percent of students said it is “extremely clear” that their college’s administration supports free expression, while only 5 percent of respondents said that it is “extremely likely” that their college administration would defend the speaker’s right to express their views if a controversy over offensive speech emerged.
When asked which topics are difficult to discuss on campus, students responded by saying that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, abortion, the 2024 presidential election, “transgender rights,” and racial inequality are the most challenging.
Columbia’s appearance in the bottom three of FIRE’s free speech rankings comes after the university agreed in July to pay $221 million to settle more than half a dozen open civil rights investigations related to the school’s handling of antisemitism on campus. The Trump administration pulled more than $400 million in federal funding from the school in March on the grounds that administrators had failed to adequately address the harassment of Jewish students.
A majority of students across institutions — 59 percent — said they are “very” or “somewhat uncomfortable” publicly disagreeing with a professor over a controversial political topic, while 50 percent said they are “very” or “somewhat uncomfortable” disagreeing with a professor about a controversial political topic in a written assignment. Additionally, 14 percent say they conceal their views from a professor for an improved grade at least weekly. Nearly 30 percent of students say they self-censor “a couple times a week” or “nearly every day” during conversations with professors, while only 12 percent of students say they are “very comfortable” expressing their views on a controversial political topic during a class discussion.
Nearly a quarter of students self-censor “a couple times a week” or “nearly every day” during conversations with their peers, while only 15 percent say they are “very comfortable” expressing their views on a controversial political topic to other students in a common campus space such as a quad, dining hall, or lounge. A majority of students — almost 70 percent — say they are “very” or “somewhat uncomfortable” sharing an unpopular political opinion to their fellow students on a social media account under their own name.
Less than half of students — 46 percent — said it is “never acceptable” to block other students from attending a speech on campus, and only 28 percent of students said it is “never acceptable” to shout down a speaker to prevent a talk on campus. Fifteen percent of students said it is “always” or “sometimes acceptable” to use violence to stop a speech on campus.
A majority of students — 76 percent — said that their school “definitely should not” or “probably should not” allow a speaker who has claimed that “Black Lives Matter is a hate group,” 74 percent said that their school “definitely should not” or “probably should not” allow a speaker who has expressed that “transgender people have a mental disorder,” 62 percent said that their school “definitely should not” or “probably should not” allow a speaker who has expressed that “the Catholic Church is a pedophilic institution,” 62 percent said their school “definitely should not” or “probably should not” allow a speaker who has expressed that “The police are just as racist as the Ku Klux Klan,” 60 percent said that their school “definitely should not” or “probably should not” allow a speaker who has previously expressed that “abortion should be completely illegal,” and 51 percent said their school “definitely should not” or “probably should not” allow a speaker who has expressed that “Children should be able to transition without parental consent.”
Slightly more than a quarter of respondents said it is “likely” or “very likely” that a student would report another student on campus to the administration for saying something controversial, while 32 percent said that it is “likely” or “very likely” that a student would report a professor to the administration for saying something controversial.
The highest rated school for free expression is Claremont McKenna College, which earned the top spot for a second time with a B- grade and a score of 79.86 — the highest score FIRE has ever awarded. Claremont McKenna College is followed by Purdue University, University of Chicago, Michigan Technological University, University of Colorado (Boulder), University of North Carolina (Greensboro), Vanderbilt University, Appalachian State University, Eastern Kentucky University, and North Carolina State University. The institution ranked highest last year, the University of Virginia, fell to number 21.
Barnard College was ranked the worst with an overall score of 40.74, followed by Columbia University, Indiana University, University of Washington, Northeastern, University of California (Davis), Boston College, New York University, Middlebury College, and Loyola University (Chicago).
“I feel as though for a lot of opinions I have to censor it or else there might be administrative backlash or discipline because our administration tends to be very harsh if you hold an opinion different to theirs,” reads a comment from an unnamed Barnard student who participated in the survey.
Harvard was ranked last in the previous two editions of the report, but is no longer in the bottom ten. Although 41 percent of Harvard students who participated in the survey say it is “not at all” or “not very” clear that Harvard protects free speech on campus, the FIRE report says Harvard has “shown some modest signs of improvement” and risen to 245 out of 257.
“Only 11 institutions score a C or higher, and many of the nation’s most prominent schools fall well below that mark,” reads the report. “If Harvard’s modest gains are worth noting, they also underscore just how low the national baseline remains.”
Not a single Ivy League institution found itself in the top ten schools for free expression. Dartmouth College ranked 35 with a D+ grade, Yale University ranked 58 with a D- grade, Princeton University was ranked 160 with an F grade, Brown University ranked 187 with an F grade, Cornell University ranked 227 with an F grade, and University of Pennsylvania ranked 231 with an F grade.
“The vast majority of American colleges and universities are failing to protect and foster free expression,” reads the report. “In an era when open inquiry and dissent are more essential than ever, campus speech climates are not just unhealthy — they are in free fall.”