New FIRE study finds record low number of restrictive campus speech codes

News Release from FIRE, July 30, 2026

PHILADELPHIA, July 30, 2026 — U.S. colleges are increasingly eliminating or narrowing restrictive speech codes, continuing an encouraging trend that reflects a greater commitment to free expression on American campuses, a new study finds.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s 20th Spotlight on Speech Codes report found a record number of schools earning FIRE’s highest rating, alongside a continued decline in policies that clearly and substantially restrict student expression. FIRE also observed colleges increasingly removing “bias reporting” policies that solicit anonymous reports about speech protected by the First Amendment.

This year also saw a record low of “red light” schools whose policies restrict free expression, indicating that mounting scrutiny from state and federal governments, alumni groups, organizations like FIRE, and collapsing public faith in higher education has prompted internal review at institutions that had long resisted policy reform. Several of the schools whose policies improved this year worked closely with FIRE to make changes.

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“Even one restrictive policy is one too many, but there’s reason to be hopeful,” said FIRE Senior Program Counsel Ryan Ansloan, who authored the report. “We’re seeing major improvements in campus policymaking, and campuses that were once hotbeds of censorship are overhauling problematic policies. Pressure from many state legislatures, as well as the reelection of Donald Trump and subsequent federal investigations, lawsuits, and shifts in research funding, have prompted internal review at many schools. We hope this will translate to taking the side of free speech when controversies arise.” 

FIRE rates schools as “green light,” “yellow light,” or “red light” institutions based on how much First Amendment-protected speech is restricted. Categories include protest, online speech, harassment, and civility. 

This year, 76 schools received a green light rating, 342 received a yellow light, and 65 received a red light. This marks a historic drop in red light schools, which have policies that both clearly and substantially restrict freedom of speech. For the second year in a row, the number of green light schools, which have no policies that seriously imperil free expression, outnumbers the number of red light schools, which fell by seven.

For the first time, the number of restrictive “red light” policies at public schools dropped below 10%. This is a welcome change from earlier iterations of the Spotlight survey, when nearly 4 out of 5 public schools had such policies on the books. 

The drop in red light schools isn’t the only encouraging development this year. Over the past several years, colleges grappled with hot-button issues like the #MeToo movement, the Black Lives Matter protests, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and subsequent campus encampment protests. As these movements unfolded, there was a subsequent proliferation of DEI office expansions and campus bias response teams, which investigated incidents of discrimination and allegedly offensive speech. FIRE has criticized the formation of bias response teams, as university admins can too easily weaponize them to censor protected speech. The very existence of these teams can create a “chilling effect” where students are afraid to speak freely for fear of recrimination. Schools are now increasingly ditching these systems alongside reforming policy.

“This year’s findings are exciting, because they suggest that colleges are taking their responsibilities seriously,” Ansloan said. “University admins have a responsibility to protect the rights of their students, and the latest policy revisions should improve campus culture for years to come.”

FIRE stands ready to defend students and faculty members whose rights are threatened on campus. We also regularly work with college administrators to reform their policies. 

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The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE recognizes that colleges and universities play a vital role in preserving free thought within a free society. To this end, we place a special emphasis on defending the individual rights of students and faculty members on our nation’s campuses, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience.

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Spotlight on Speech Codes 2026

20th Edition: The State of Free Speech on our Nation’s Campuses

“Freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order. If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.”  — U.S. Supreme Court, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)

News Release from FIRE, July, 2026

Major Findings

The percentage of colleges and universities earning an overall “red light” rating in FIRE’s Spotlight database has hit an all-time low — this year to 13.2%. This is an approximately one-and-a-half percentage point drop from last year, and is more than 55 percentage points lower than the percentage of red light institutions in FIRE’s first, 2006 report in which 68.6% of all institutions earned a red light rating. 

69.4% of institutions now earn an overall “yellow light” rating. Though less restrictive than red light policies, yellow light policies still restrict expression that is protected under First Amendment standards and invite administrative abuse.

UH Manoa “Code Yellow” Ranking 115 of 257

UH Hilo “Code Yellow” (no ranking)

A total of 76 colleges and universities now earn an overall “green light” rating, up from 73 schools as of last year’s report. Policies earn a green light rating when they do not seriously threaten protected expression. For the second year in a row, more institutions earn a green light rating (76) than a red light rating (66). This gulf widens at public schools, where the number of public schools earning a green light rating (68) eclipses the number of private schools earning a red light rating (37) by over 30. 

One hundred and twenty university administrations or faculty bodies have now adopted policy statements in support of free speech modeled after the “Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression” at the University of Chicago (the “Chicago Statement”), released in January 2015.

Forty-seven institutions have adopted an official position of institutional neutrality substantially similar to the principles set forth in the University of Chicago’s “Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action” (the “Kalven Report”).

Executive Summary

Since 2006, FIRE’s Spotlight on Speech Codes report has emphasized the importance of the written policies in place at hundreds of America’s top colleges and universities. Most college students in the United States should be able to expect that freedom of expression will be upheld on their campuses. After all, public institutions are legally bound by the First Amendment, and the vast majority of private colleges and universities promise their students commensurate free speech rights.

This report comes at a time when nearly 70% of those surveyed nationally believe things in America are heading in the wrong direction when it comes to whether people are able to freely express their views. Given this background, one might think it is more important than ever for university leaders to ensure their policies comport with First Amendment standards. Nevertheless, far too many colleges across the country still fail to live up to their free speech obligations in policy and in practice. Often, this is enabled by the maintaining of speech codes: university policies that restrict expression protected by the First Amendment.

FIRE continues to urge every school that claims to respect their students’ free speech rights to revise their policies to meet First Amendment standards.

For our 2026 report, FIRE surveyed the written policies of 493 colleges and universities, evaluating their compliance with First Amendment standards. Overall, 65 (13.2%) earn an overall “red light” rating for maintaining policies that clearly and substantially restrict free speech. 342 (69.4%) earn an overall “yellow light” rating for maintaining policies that impose vague regulations on expression. And 76 (15.4%) earn an overall “green light” rating for maintaining policies that do not seriously imperil free expression. In addition, ten schools (2%) earn a “Warning” rating because they clearly and consistently state that they hold a certain set of values above a commitment to freedom of speech.

This marks the second year in a row where the number of green light schools outnumbers the number of red light schools. FIRE was pleased to welcome the University of Alabama; University of California, Davis; and University of West Florida to the green light list this year.

Spotlight on Speech Codes

FIRE surveys speech codes at America’s top colleges and universities, providing readers with key data on individual schools and national trends. >>> Read More

In addition, the continued reduction in red light schools leaves a troubling trend in the past: In two straight reports — between 2022 and 2024 — the number of red light schools increased. This trend followed a streak of 14 reports — between 2009 and 2022 — of the number of red light schools falling annually. Since 2024’s report identified 98 red light schools, each report since has identified fewer, with a record-low 65 red light schools in this report.

In general, private schools maintain more restrictive speech codes than their public counterparts: Private schools are significantly less likely to earn green light ratings and more likely to earn red light ratings than public schools. Just 9.8% of public schools earn red light ratings, the first time in the history of the report that the number of public schools earning red lights has fallen below 10%. Meanwhile, 24.6% of private schools do. Similarly, nearly 18% of public schools earn green lights while only 7% of private schools earned that distinction.

Below, you can learn about our methodology, some additional takeaways, and a comprehensive list of individual schools’ ratings.

If you’d like to encourage a school you care about to revise its speech codes, FIRE is here to help! For more information, contact: speechcodes@fire.org