Nearly one in three American college students say violence can be an acceptable way to stop a campus speaker.
Story Snapshot
- Thirty percent of students say using violence to stop a campus speech is acceptable at least in rare cases.
- Seven in ten students say violence is never acceptable, and that share grew this year.
- About 63,000 students at 262 four-year schools took part in the survey.
- A third of students also said posting the word “MAGA” online should get a person fired.
- In 2017, only 10 percent of students said violence was ever acceptable to stop a speaker.
What the new campus survey found
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) released its new College Free Speech Rankings on Wednesday. About 63,000 students at 262 four-year colleges answered it. One question asked how acceptable it is to use violence to stop a campus speaker. Thirty percent said it is acceptable at least in rare cases. Seven in ten said it is never acceptable. The question has been asked the same way for years, so the answers can be compared over time.
Students answered through the College Pulse app and website. The survey ran from January 2 to June 3 of this year. That window covered a full spring semester at schools across the country. A sample that size is large for a poll of students. It lets the group rank individual campuses and track the same question year after year. That yearly tracking is what makes the newest number worth a careful look.
The number went down this year
Thirty percent is lower than the 34 percent recorded a year ago, which was a record high. A four-point drop is real, and it is the first move in the right direction in years. But the level is still high. Seven in ten students rule out force. Three in ten do not. The survey measures what students say is acceptable. It does not say these students have acted on those views.
The same report carried a second finding that drew notice. About a third of students said posting the word “MAGA” online should be a fireable offense. Read together, the two numbers point one way. A sizable minority of students treats speech they dislike as something to punish or shut down. The method of choice differs. The instinct behind it does not.
Why both sides are watching this one
The finding lands the same way on the left and the right. Conservatives point to years of campus protests that shut their speakers down. Liberals note that the same tactics can be turned on people they invite. Parents and taxpayers who pay the tuition bills see a preview of civic life. Both groups tend to reach one conclusion. Schools print their values in the handbook, then struggle to defend them when a crowd shows up.
From one in ten to nearly one in three
The long arc is the clearest part of the story. In 2017, the Knight Foundation found that just 10 percent of students said violence was sometimes acceptable to stop a speaker. Ninety percent said never. By 2021, the share who accepted violence had climbed to 23 percent. It reached 27 percent in 2024 and 32 percent in 2025. The climb took less than ten years.
A "free speech absolutist" would support every speaker being heard (even those they personally find offensive).
Are there any "free speech absolutists" left on college campuses?@TheFIREorg's new survey allows us to assess this by asking whether six controversial speakers (3… pic.twitter.com/4Mth8XEzhu
— The Missing Data Depot (@data_depot) September 11, 2026
This year’s dip comes off the top of that climb, not off the 2017 floor. Colleges still have the same plain job. Keep events safe and open, and protect peaceful protest at the same time. That job is harder when three in ten students will not rule out force. Clear rules and even-handed enforcement help. So does leadership that says the same thing to every group on campus, every time.
Sources:
rankings.fire.org, fire.org, thecollegefix.com, nypost.com, reason.com
