FIRE 2026 Rankings Expose Harvard’s Free Speech Deficit

Harvard has once again performed poorly in national rankings for free speech. In FIRE’s 2026 College Free Speech Rankings, Harvard ranks near the bottom 25% of universities, a position that reflects the profound challenges facing free expression and open inquiry in on its campus.

The survey raises many serious concerns. The Survey found that a significant portion of the respondents (47%) are continuing to self-censor. Harvard ranked poorly on key measures such as Comfort Expressing Ideas and Administrative Support, reflecting an environment where students are reluctant to speak openly and lack confidence that leadership will stand behind them when controversy arises.

Equally alarming, 32% of students say using violence to stop someone from speaking on campus is acceptable, at least in rare cases. An incredible 79% of students say shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus is acceptable as well.

Harvard’s proud history as a leader in American higher education makes these results all the more troubling. Unless leadership is able to foster a culture of open inquiry, where disagreement is valued as a strength rather than feared as a threat, Harvard’s reputation will remain in jeopardy.

We will be offering further analysis of these results in the days ahead. In particular, we look forward to better understanding the methodology and findings behind this report when we and the 1636 Forum co-host an upcoming event with FIRE to discuss the rankings in greater detail.

Harvard Alumni for Free Speech is a nonprofit organization comprised of Harvard alumni, donors, students, and faculty who are committed to promoting and strengthening free expression, academic freedom, and viewpoint diversity, both on campus and throughout the global Harvard-Radcliffe community.