Arizona universities fare well in campus free speech rankings
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American colleges are largely failing to create a healthy free speech climate on campus, but Arizona's universities have some of the nation's best scores, according to a new national ranking.
Why it matters: Students are self-censoring at high rates amid intense political pressure from the Trump administration and efforts by some universities to change policies in response.
By the numbers: The rankings found an average overall score of 61.36 — the highest recorded in seven years, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
- That still amounts to a D- on the report's grading scale.
- 140 schools received passing grades, whereas 121 out of the 261 schools ranked in the report received an F for their free speech climate.
- Only 24 schools received a C or better.
Zoom in: Arizona's three public universities were among the 12 schools that scored a C-, and the state's average score for its schools was second only to New Hampshire.
- University of Arizona (27) led, followed by Arizona State University (29) and Northern Arizona University (32).
- Of the six categories used for scoring, Arizona's best grade was a C+ for disruptive conduct — how acceptable students think it is to disrupt a campus speaker.
- FIRE logged no free speech controversies at the three Arizona schools last year.
Yes, but: Arizona received F grades for administrative support — students' belief in the administration's support for free speech and willingness to support their rights in a controversy — and tolerance of controversial speakers, which was the only grade to get worse this year.
- 73% of Arizona students surveyed still said it's acceptable to shout down someone to prevent them from speaking on campus, at least in rare cases.
- 47% say they've self-censored at least once or twice a month.
- And 30% said that at least in rare cases it's acceptable to use violence to stop someone from speaking on campus.
Zoom out: The University of Chicago tops the list for the third time in seven years, followed by Claremont McKenna College, Georgia Tech, Michigan Tech and Vanderbilt.
- New York University ranks last, behind the University of Washington, Texas State, Northeastern and Rutgers.
How it works: FIRE defined self-censorship as refraining from sharing views because of fear of social, professional, legal or violent consequences.
- The topic students identified as the most difficult to discuss was the Israeli-Palestine conflict, with 50% of students reluctant to broach it.
- Trump followed at 46%, and conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated a year ago, at 44%.
- Abortion ranked fourth at 43%. Immigration and transgender rights tied at roughly 38%.
The intrigue: Some universities lost points because FIRE penalized their handling of controversial speech.
- Clemson University, for example, dropped nearly 5 points after firing two professors for controversial posts about Kirk's death.
- FIRE says at least 20 professors nationwide were fired over similar posts.
- Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed, fell 139 spots amid increased student self-censorship and after dropping a commencement speaker who had criticized Kirk in posts after his death.
Methodology: 62,997 undergraduates at 262 universities were surveyed from Jan. 2 to June 3, 2026. The poll has a margin of error of ±0.4 percentage points for U.S. undergraduates in four-year programs, and between 2 and 5 points for student subgroups.