Can Ohio’s Universities Achieve a Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression?

March 31, 2026 – Today, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), under the auspices of its Campus Freedom Initiative™, released a survey of 2,277 undergraduate students at five of Ohio’s major public four-year universities, along with a more in-depth report card assessing these universities’ policies on free expression.

The survey, conducted with the survey research and analytics company College Pulse, polled students at the state flagship The Ohio State University, as well as Kent State University, Miami University, Ohio University, and the University of Cincinnati. It revealed high rates of self-censorship and viewpoint intolerance at public universities in the Buckeye State but also uncovered encouraging signs of progress. Key findings from the survey include:

• Seventy-four percent of students say their campus is welcoming to those who hold unpopular political opinions;
• Seventy percent of students say their university should take action to promote political diversity among faculty;
• Forty-six percent of undergraduates say the political climate on campus prevents them from expressing their beliefs;
• Sixty-three percent of undergraduates say they have not spoken up on campus because they thought their opinion would be unwelcome;
• Nearly half of undergraduates (47%) say they would feel uncomfortable publicly disagreeing with a professor about a controversial topic;
• Nearly two-thirds of students believe professors should be reported to the university if they say something that students find offensive; and ACTA’s Ohio Report Card assesses all six universities against our Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression™, a comprehensive 20-point action plan for restoring free expression campus and provides several recommendations for each school.

While the surveyed universities have adopted vital policies protecting free expression, establishing institutional neutrality, and committing to merit-based faculty hiring, the report card also identifies significant deficits and proposes additional steps these institutions must take to fully realize a culture of open inquiry. These include incorporating a free expression unit at new student orientation, requiring free expression and viewpoint diversity training for administrative staff, and disbanding all remaining bias reporting tools.

“We were pleased to discover some of the recent improvements Ohio’s public universities have made in support of free expression and intellectual diversity on their campuses,” noted ACTA’s Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom Steven McGuire. “Adopting institutional

neutrality and banning mandatory diversity statements from the faculty hiring process, for example, will help to protect academic freedom and ensure that these institutions are forums for open inquiry and the free exchange of ideas. But our survey results show there is still room for improvement, and our report card outlines what these universities can do if they want to become true bastions of free expression.”

“Freedom of expression is the lifeblood of higher education, but too few universities in America have truly embraced it and made it one of their core institutional values,” said ACTA President Michael Poliakoff. “Ohio’s public universities, largely thanks to improvements made in the last few years, are doing better than many of their peer institutions across the country. But they have yet to become gold standards for freedom of expression. Thus, the question remains: Will they build on their momentum and become true national leaders on freedom and diversity of thought? Ohioans deserve nothing less.”

ACTA has previously issued surveys and report cards assessing the state of free expression at public universities in both Arizona and Virginia.