A record one in three students now holds some level of acceptance, even if only “rarely,” for resorting to violence to stop a campus speech.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) recently released it’s sixth annual report on the status of free speech on college campuses. FIRE gauged students’ experience with free speech by asking questions relating to expressing controversial opinions in and out of the classroom, their perceived institutional tolerance for differing viewpoints, and how often students practice self-censorship.
FIRE is a non-profit, civil liberties group that aims to advocate for and educate on free speech nationally. The foundation partners with College Pulse to survey over 68,000 students on 257 college campuses. Students were polled between January and June 2025.
The survey asked students how acceptable various forms of protest against campus speakers would be. It included questions such as the acceptability of “blocking students from attending a campus speech.” Another questioned students on “using violence to stop a campus speech.”
Most students, 72%, responded that it is acceptable in limited circumstances to shout down a speaker on campus to stop them from speaking on a controversial topic.
Of the students surveyed 34% say using violence to stop someone from speaking is acceptable, at least in rare cases. According to FIRE, this percentage has increased by 10 points over the past four years.
The percentage of students who would shout down a speaker, block students from attending an event, or use violence to end a campus speech have all increased since last year and are at a record high.
These percentages are higher in North Carolina, with 36% of North Carolina college students communicating they think it is acceptable to use violence to stop someone from speaking on campus, at least in rare circumstances.
“More students than ever think violence and chaos are acceptable alternatives to peaceful protest,” the chief research advisor to FIRE, Sean Stevens, said of the results. “This finding cuts across partisan lines. It is not a liberal or conservative problem — it’s an American problem.”
Although the results of the survey reflect Stevens’ comments, North Carolina schools topped the free speech rankings.
Six of the 10 North Carolina schools evaluated fall in the top 25 of FIRE’s report. These schools included:
- UNC Greensboro (No. 6)
- Appalachian State University (No. 8)
- North Carolina State University (No. 10)
- East Carolina University (No. 14)
- UNC-Chapel Hill (No. 19)
- UNC-Charlotte (No. 20)
By ranking No. 1 in North Carolina and No. 6 nationally, UNCG joins NCSU as a college recognized for frequently leading in free expression.
“A handful of schools have consistently outperformed their peers in fostering environments more conducive to free expression,” stated researchers for FIRE. “This group includes all of this year’s top five schools, as well as institutions like the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.”
NCSU and ECU were also named as schools who consistently top the charts in their protection of free expression on campus.
These high-rankings schools, however, “stand out not because they’ve created truly robust speech climates, but because most of their peers are doing far worse.”
“The 2026 rankings reveal a bleak picture,” the report notes. “166 of the 257 schools evaluated received an overall score below 60 — earning a failing grade for their campus speech climate.”
This year, FIRE awarded their highest-grade over the six years they have conducted this study — a 79.86 out of 100 (or B-) to Claremont McKenna College.
Most of the top schools on FIRE’s list received a grade of C-, leading researchers to say the “vast majority of American colleges and universities are failing to protect and foster free expression.”
Rather than rising to protect free speech, the data suggests that college students are losing confidence in their administrations and becoming more accepting of violence as a means of protesting opposing viewpoints.