Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, has released its Spotlight on Speech Codes for the previous school year. The report, now in its 20th year, uses a red light-yellow light-green light scale to grade if a college or university is protecting the First Amendment rights of students and faculty.
Looking over the past 20 years, FIRE says the number of speech-censoring “red light” campuses has steadily declined, from 68% two decades ago to only 13% during the 2025-2026 school year.
Ryan Ansloan, FAIR senior program counsel, says many campus speech codes can be traced to campus demonstrations. When those take place, campus leadership often responds with “guardrails” that FAIR finds unfair and unconstitutional.
“If they put those in the wrong place, they can run afoul of the 1st Amendment,” Ansloan warns.
In its survey of campuses, 493 in all across the United States, FAIR lists 76 colleges and universities with a “green light” rating; 342 have a “yellow light” rating; and 65 have a “red light” rating.
FAIR’s research has found public universities uphold free speech better than private schools, which is why 66 of the “green light” campuses are a public school versus 37 “red light” campuses that are a private campus.
Ansloan says university leaders have the right to speak out when something threatens the mission of the institution but that decision can influence conversations on campus.
“It's also important that they provide as many avenues for students and faculty to speak up if possible,” he said. “That includes not drowning out the conversation by firing off tweets every time something goes viral.”
