College Student Views on Free Expression and Campus Speech 2022
Survey
Jan. 2022
Sample Size:
1,023
Demographics:
undergraduate students
Topics:
Diversity And Inclusion
Partisan Divide
Free Speech
Top Findings:
- An overwhelming majority of college students (84%) say free speech rights are extremely or very important in our democracy.
- A similar majority of students (83%) believe the First Amendment protects people like them. However, just 5% of Black students feel that the First Amendment protects people like them a great deal, a drop of 20 percentage points since 2019.
- More than half of students (59%) say colleges should allow students to be exposed to all types of speech even if they may find it offensive or biased. Republican students (71%) and white students (65%) are more likely to say this than Independent, (57%), Democrat (55%), Black (47%) or Hispanic (45%) students.
- Less than half of students (47%) say speech rights are secure, a share that has fallen every year since this question was first asked in 2016. This includes a drop of 12 percentage points between 2019 and 2021, driven primarily by declines among Republican students.
- A majority of students (65%) agree strongly or somewhat that their campus climate prevents some people from saying things they believe because others might find the remarks offensive. This majority has risen 11 percentage points since 2016.
- Just half of students say they feel comfortable voicing disagreement with their instructor (49%) or peers (52%) in class.