59 mins ago - Education

Ohio colleges get poor marks for free speech in new rankings

Red brick university building with a central clock tower and flag, framed by autumn orange trees. A walkway with lampposts and a few people on campus in front. — The Ohio State University might have an A in football, but it earned an F in free speech from a nonprofit's rankings. Photo: Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images

Ohio colleges aren't exactly making the honor roll when it comes to free speech, per a civil liberties nonprofit's new report.

State of play: Ohio's 13 ranked colleges and universities earned a D- average for their campus speech climates in the latest national rankings from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), matching the national average.

How it works: FIRE and College Pulse surveyed nearly 63,000 students and incorporated campus speech policies and recent controversies.

Half of students said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "was difficult to discuss openly," followed by President Trump (46%), Charlie Kirk (44%) and abortion (43%).

Zoom in: Northeast Ohio schools landed in the bottom half of the 261-school ranking.

Case Western Reserve ranked No. 121 with a D-, up from No. 163 last year.
Kent State ranked No. 189 and Oberlin College No. 194. Both received F grades.

Zoom out: Wright State was Ohio's highest-ranked school at No. 64, followed by Kenyon College (76), Miami University (77) and Bowling Green State University (80).

Ohio State fell 50 spots to No. 174 and received an F, while the University of Dayton ranked last in Ohio at No. 237.

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Ohio colleges get poor marks for free speech in new rankings

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