Nearly 1 in 3 College Students Have Experienced Free Speech Limitations on Campus

Over the last several months, free speech concerns on college campuses have intensified, and institutions have struggled to respond.

In a new BestColleges survey of 1,000 current undergraduate and graduate students, 31% say they have personally experienced limitations to expressing their opinions at school.

Still, more than 2 in 5 (44%) say they feel comfortable expressing their opinions on their campus without fear of negative consequences. Only about one-quarter of students (27%) say they do not.

Perhaps surprisingly, there are no notable differences in the free speech experiences of students who are enrolled fully online versus those enrolled entirely in person.

Men are notably more likely than women to say they have personally experienced limitations in expressing their opinions on campus (38% vs. 26%).

Millennials are more likely than Generation Z students to say they feel comfortable expressing their opinions on campus without fear of negative consequences (55% vs. 42%).

Regardless of students' personal experiences, most agree that students should be allowed to make political statements at school without fear of negative consequences (64%).

Just under half of students (47%) also agree that college faculty should be allowed to make political statements at school without fear of negative consequences.

Students Believe Schools Should Speak Up on College Affordability and Free Speech

When it comes to what students want their institutions to take a public stance on, college affordability and student loan debt (60%); free speech (46%); the economy, employment, and inflation (39%); and racial and ethnic inequality/rights (38%) are their top choices. Gun policy/control (34%) rounds out the top five issues.

About 3 in 10 students also agree that colleges should take a public stance on healthcare (31%), climate change (30%), LGBTQ+ rights (29%), abortion and reproductive rights (29%), and voting rights (28%).

And only about 2 in 10 students believe their schools to take a public stance on immigration (21%), foreign wars and conflicts (e.g., Israel/Palestine, Russia/Ukraine) (19%), and AI policy (19%).

Across demographic groups, BIPOC students are notably more likely than white students to say that colleges should take a public stance on healthcare (38% vs. 27%), gun policy/control (40% vs. 30%), foreign wars and conflicts (26% vs. 16%), and racial and ethnic inequality/rights (44% vs. 35%).

Students Believe in Some Regulation, Limitations to Campus Free Speech

More than 1 in 3 students (37%) agree that it is appropriate for federal and state governments to investigate free speech practices on college campuses. An equal percentage of students are neutral on the matter, while about one-quarter of students (26%) disagree.

Just over 2 in 5 current students (41%) also believe in limiting free speech on college campuses to protect individuals from hate speech or offensive language.

LGBTQ+ students are notably more likely than heterosexual students to agree that there should be limits to free speech on college campuses to protect individuals from hate speech or offensive language (49% vs. 39%).

Methodology

This survey was conducted from Mar. 20-28, 2024, and was fielded by Pure Spectrum. Survey participants included 1,000 respondents nationwide who were currently enrolled in an on-campus (52%), online (16%), or hybrid (32%) undergraduate or graduate degree program. Respondents were 18-62 years of age, with the majority (77%) ages 18-24, and currently pursuing an associate, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, or professional degree. The respondents for the survey were screened by various quality checks, including systems like Relevant ID, and responses were manually reviewed to ensure consistency and accuracy.

A note on gender: BestColleges also surveyed nonbinary/gender-nonconforming students but did not surface enough participants in this group to reliably report on their responses.