College students express strong support for free speech in principle but demonstrate significant intolerance for viewpoints they disagree with in practice, according to the 2025 American College Student Freedom, Progress and Flourishing Survey released by the Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth.
While 74% of students say protecting free speech is more important than ensuring no one feels uncomfortable, their responses to specific scenarios paint a different picture. Most concerning, 72% of students favor reporting professors to university administrators if they say something students deem offensive—a figure that has remained consistently high since the survey began in 2021.
The survey probed deeper by asking which specific statements should be grounds for reporting professors. Among the 10 statements tested—covering topics from affirmative action and police bias to gun rights and biological sex—62% of students said professors should be reported for making one or more of these opinion-based or factual claims.
"These findings do not suggest a campus environment open to the free inquiry and debate needed to advance knowledge and teach critical thinking," the report concluded.
The survey did reveal some positive developments. Student tolerance for restricting controversial content has increased since 2023. Support for disinviting controversial speakers dropped from 35% to 28%, while support for dropping uncomfortable class readings fell from 42% to 28%, and backing for eliminating difficult discussion topics declined from 31% to 23%.
However, these improvements are overshadowed by the persistent willingness to report professors and fellow students for expressing unpopular views. Fifty-seven percent of students favor reporting other students who make statements deemed offensive—slightly down from 62% in 2022 but similar to recent years.
