(The Center Square) – Fourteen higher education institutions in North Carolina earned the highest ratings in the 20th annual report on campus speech codes.
Spotlight on Speech Codes 2026 is an analysis by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression for 493 schools of higher education on one of five core rights in the First Amendment. In addition to free speech, the others are freedom of the press, freedom of religion, right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition government.
A spokeswoman for FIRE, through email to The Center Square, said the findings will factor into upcoming College Free Speech Rankings set to be released in September.
On the green light list are Appalachian State, Duke, East Carolina, Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, North Carolina Central, N.C. State, UNC Pembroke, UNC Asheville, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC School of the Arts and UNC Wilmington
“Even one restrictive policy is one too many, but there’s reason to be hopeful,” said Ryan Ansloan, senior program counsel at FIRE. “We’re seeing major improvements in campus policymaking, and campuses that were once hotbeds of censorship are overhauling problematic policies.
“Pressure from many state legislatures, as well as the reelection of Donald Trump and subsequent federal investigations, lawsuits, and shifts in research funding, have prompted internal review at many schools. We hope this will translate to taking the side of free speech when controversies arise.”
Grading is by red light for maintaining “policies clearly and substantially” restrictive of free speech; yellow light for policies that “impose vague regulations on expression”; and green light for policies “that do not seriously imperil free expression.” Warning ratings go to schools that “clearly and consistently state that they hold a certain set of values above a commitment to freedom of speech.”
The report also documents schools adopting the 2015 free speech policy from the University of Chicago known as the Chicago Statement. This means universities protect open, robust and uninhibited debate even when ideas are viewed as offensive, wrong or immoral. It also notes higher education institutions adopting an official position of institutional neutrality.
The University of North Carolina System is on both respective lists. Davidson joins it on the Chicago Statement list.
No schools from the state hit the red light list.
On the yellow light list were Davidson, North Carolina A&T and Wake Forest.
The state is home to 17 public institutions in the UNC System and 34 private, nonprofit colleges. Not all were rated.
