College Student Views on Free Expression and Campus Speech 2022
College campuses have long been places where the limits of free expression are debated and tested. This report provides a look at key trends in student speech since 2016.
Learning and Impact
Knight Free Expression Research Series: College
An understanding of college student attitudes toward speech and the First Amendment since 2016.
Introduction
The limits of free expression have long been debated and tested on college campuses. In recent years, accelerated by political pressures and digital advancement, this dialogue has grown more fraught.
Since 2016, Knight has been measuring college student attitudes toward speech and the First Amendment. This research has offered nuanced and evolving insights into how college students perceive campus speech and First Amendment protections over the years and into the future. The findings reinforce that students are not a monolithic group when it comes to speech, showing that partisanship, race and ethnicity drive meaningful differences in how college students view speech.
Understanding where different groups stand is vitally important for higher education leaders as they seek to foster free expression on college campuses and create environments that are conducive to intellectual inquiry for all.
We also invite the public, policymakers and researchers to use our publicly available data in their own work.
Featured Research
Learning and Impact
Learning and Impact
The First Amendment on Campus 2020 Report: College Students’ Views of Free Expression
A survey of a sample of U.S. college students, including an oversample of students at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Learning and Impact
Free Expression on College Campuses
A report by College Pulse that revealed that students show support for First Amendment rights, but are divided on whether it’s more important to promote an inclusive society that welcomes diverse groups or to protect the extremes of free speech. Opinions sharply diverge by gender, race, sexual orientation, political affiliation and religion.
Key Findings
Students view speech rights as important, yet less secure than in years past.
While students continue to believe First Amendment rights and concepts of free speech are important to democracy, the percentage of students saying speech rights are secure has fallen in every subsequent study since this question was first asked in 2016.
Students of color believe their speech is less protected.
While a majority of college students express confidence that the First Amendment protects “people like them,” Black students in particular feel much less protected.
Students believe exposure to a wide spectrum of speech at college is important.
Most students continue to say colleges should allow students to be exposed to all types of speech, including political speech that is offensive or biased, rather than prohibiting speech they may find offensive.
Students favor college policies that limit racist speech, but support for other speech interventions remains low.
Most students favor colleges instituting policies that restrict the use of racial slurs on campus, suggesting that, for them, this particular category of speech does not merit mandated exposure on campus.
Students say the campus climate stifles free expression, yet speech on campus is making nearly 1 in 5 feel unsafe.
In 2021, more students said the climate at school prevents some from saying things others might find offensive than in 2019, and fewer felt comfortable disagreeing in class. Yet slightly more in 2021 report feeling unsafe because of comments made on campus than in 2019.
