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INFOGRAPHIC: Free Speech in Danger on America’s Campuses
Every year, FIRE rates over 400 colleges and universities around the country on how well they respect free speech on their campuses. This year, the results are once again disturbing. Check out the static infographic below (or, better yet, check out the interactive infographic) to see what we found this year.
Facts to share:
- Only 19 of rated U.S. colleges fully allow #freespeech on campus. - Tweet this!
- 55% of rated schools clearly restrict campus #freespeech. - Tweet this!
- 39% of rated schools have ambiguous #freespeech policies. - Tweet this!
- Only 4% of rated schools do not restrict #freespeech in their policies. - Tweet this!
- Thanks to @TheFIREorg, the number of schools w/ restrictive speech codes has declined for 7 years. - Tweet this!
- 85% of rated schools in Missouri have restrictive speech codes. - Tweet this!
- 80% of rated schools in Washington have restrictive speech codes. - Tweet this!
- 78% of rated schools in Louisiana have restrictive speech codes. - Tweet this!
- Only 25% of rated schools in Indiana have restrictive speech codes! - Tweet this!
- Only 31% of rated schools in Virginia have restrictive speech codes! - Tweet this!
- Only 37% of rated schools in North Carolina have restrictive speech codes! - Tweet this!
- Did you know? Public colleges and universities are legally required to uphold the First Amendment! - Tweet this!
Recent Articles
Get the latest free speech news and analysis from FIRE.
FIRE poll: 90% of undergrads believe words can be violence even after killing of Charlie Kirk
Ninety one percent of undergraduate students believe that words can be violence, according to a new poll by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and College Pulse.
Join FIRE’s Free Speech Forum this summer in Washington, D.C.
Spend a week in D.C. exploring free speech, building advocacy skills, and connecting with future leaders — all for free at FIRE’s 2026 Forum!
If free speech only matters when convenient, it isn’t free at all
Free speech isn’t a perk for agreeable views. It’s a civic discipline we need most when it stings.
Abbott’s blacklist: America’s tradition of branding dissent as treason
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott labeled the Council on American-Islamic Relations a foreign terrorist organization and prohibited it from purchasing land in the state.