These are the top 10 BEST schools for free speech this year.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) released its 2022-2023 university rankings on Wednesday morning. The ratings preview how college campuses respect freedom of speech through speech codes, administrative behavior, and student perception.

“Our new and improved rankings are intended to reward universities that protect and defend the freedom of speech while empowering students and parents who care about free speech not to attend or support universities that don’t,” FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff said in a prepared statement to Campus Reform. 

44,847 students from over 200 universities were surveyed about the speech climate on their campus to generate the report. FIRE states that the rankings are based on “a composite score of 10 subcomponents, six of which assess student perceptions of different aspects of the speech climate on… campus.”

The remaining four subcomponents analyzed “administrative behavior” pertaining to on-campus free speech.

“Higher scores indicate a better campus climate for free speech and expression,” the report explains.

Below are the top 10 universities FIRE recognized as being free-speech friendly. All but one were given a green light speech code rating, which indicates that “FIRE is not currently aware of any serious threats to students’ free speech rights in the written policies on that campus”

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago was ranked the top school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked first for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

While the university disinvited one speaker between 2019-2022, the university ranked 91st in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 60th in “[c]omfort [e]xpressing [i]deas,” First for trusting administrative support for speech, and 83rd for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 4:1 liberal to conservative student ratio.

Kansas State University

Kansas State University was ranked second best for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 62nd for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 33rd in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 20th in “[c]omfort [e]xpressing [i]deas,” 40th for trusting administrative support for speech, and 166th for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 1:1.3 liberal to conservative student ratio.

Purdue University-Main Campus

Purdue University-Main Campus was ranked the third best school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 118nd for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 74th in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 55th in “[c]omfort [e]xpressing [i]deas,” 4th for trusting administrative support for speech, and 87th for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 1.1:1 liberal to conservative student ratio.

Mississippi State University

Mississippi State University was ranked the fourth best school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 196th for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 35th in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 81th in “comfort expressing ideas,” 18th for trusting administrative support for speech, and 127th for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 1:1.9 liberal to conservative student ratio.

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University (OSU) was ranked the 5th best school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 65th for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 11th in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 2nd in “[c]omfort [e]xpressing [i]deas,” 5th for trusting administrative support for speech, and 70th for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 1:1.2 liberal to conservative student ratio.

OSU was given a yellow light speech code rating, which indicates that the university “has at least one yellow light policy that restricts a more limited amount of protected expression or, by virtue of vague wording, can too easily be used to restrict protected expression.”

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont McKenna College in California was ranked the 6th best school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 4th for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 89th in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 74th in “comfort expressing ideas,” 6th for trusting administrative support for speech, and 28th for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 5.2:1 liberal to conservative student ratio.

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro was ranked the 7th best school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 174th for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 132th in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 24th in “comfort expressing ideas,” 31st for trusting administrative support for speech, and 46th for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 3.7:1 liberal to conservative student ratio.

Northern Arizona University

Northern Arizona University was ranked the eighth best school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 145th for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 25th in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 113th in “comfort expressing ideas,” 133rd for trusting administrative support for speech, and 84th for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 1.8:1 liberal to conservative student ratio.

North Carolina State University at Raleigh

North Carolina State University at Raleigh was ranked the ninth best school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 150th for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 41st in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 18th in “[c]omfort [e]xpressing [i]deas,” 95th for trusting administrative support for speech, and 93rd for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 1.6:1 liberal to conservative student ratio.

Oregon State University

Oregon State University was ranked the tenth best school for free speech for the 2022-2023 academic year. The university ranked 29th for being tolerant of controversial speakers, including conservative and liberal speakers.

The university ranked 10th in student acceptance of disrupting speaker events and did not disinvite any speakers from campus between 2019-2022.

Regarding student perception of the campus climate, the university ranked 115th in “[c]omfort [e]xpressing [i]deas,” 83rd for trusting administrative support for speech, and 159th for the ability to have difficult discussions on campus.

The school has a 2.4:1 liberal to conservative student ratio.

Sean Stevens, Senior Research Fellow of Polling and Analytics at FIRE, told Campus Reform that the schools that qualified for the top 10 reported higher levels of student comfort “[e]xpressing [i]deas in a variety of campus context” and reported higher levels of administrative support for free speech.

However, he acknowledged that every school could improve its commitment to free speech.

“[W]hile there are clearly some schools that have better speech climates than others, all of the schools surveyed have work to do if they want to establish a campus where the free exchange of ideas flourishes,” Stevens told Campus Reform.

View the full database here.

Campus Reform contacted all universities mentioned. This article will be updated accordingly. 

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