UC Davis rises to No. 24 in national college freedom of speech ranking

The school had the highest jump in the ratings of any school evaluated this year, up from No. 252 in 2025

By RIVERS STOUT— campus@theaggie.org

In a new ranking by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), UC Davis placed No. 24 overall in its national free speech rankings, up from No. 252 in 2026.

The ranking scores schools out of 100, with a higher score correlating to campus policies and climates that FIRE sees as promoting free speech and student expression. 62,997 full-time students in four-year programs were surveyed across 262 colleges and universities, according to FIRE. Ranks were determined based on both data acquired by the student polls and quantitative analyses of university policies and any existing freedom of speech controversies.

UC Davis’ latest score of 72.5, or a C grade, was the biggest positive change in the organization’s database this year, up from a score of 54.9 in 2025.

“As a public university, UC Davis is firmly committed to the First Amendment and to the free and open discourse that is essential to our educational mission and our role in a democratic society,” Chancellor Gary May said on the ranking in a press release. “We recognize that free speech can be uncomfortable and even at times hurtful to members of our community, and we reiterate our Principles of Community to guide our culture and climate of mutual respect and caring. We appreciate FIRE’s recognition of the progress we’ve made and the difficult work we continue to do.”

FIRE is a nonprofit organization that is “dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought,” according to its website. For the ranking, FIRE partnered with polling group College Pulse to survey students nationwide.

Polling data is divided into six categories: comfort expressing ideas, disruptive conduct, openness, self-censorship, administrative support and political tolerance. Student responses are then judged accordingly, impacting the university’s score.

A third of UC Davis’ 18-point score increase comes from two policies. The first is its adoption of the Chicago Statement, a declaration first taken up by the University of Chicago, which affirms a university’s commitment to the First Amendment and civil debate in its rules that regulate when, where and how free speech may be conducted. FIRE provides a fill-in-the-blank document for universities wishing to adopt the statement, which it then rewards as having a higher level of freedom of speech.

The second policy in Davis’ favor was its institutional neutrality. FIRE says it determines a university’s institutional neutrality based on whether it defends the rights of students and faculty to “express their views and engage in academic discourse.”

Also adding to UC Davis’ score was its spotlight rating, which serves as FIRE’s “opinion of the degree to which free speech is curtailed at a particular institution,” according to their Speech Code Rating System. FIRE has given UC Davis a green light — a broad approval for UC Davis’ policies regarding freedom of speech.

In comparison, UC Berkeley ranked No. 215 as the lowest-ranked UC, with a score of 55.6 amounting to an F. Last year, they ranked No. 217. UC Los Angeles is the second-highest ranked UC at No. 94 with a score of 62.7, or a D. Seven of the nine undergraduate UC campuses received F grades.

In California, the average score of the 37 schools ranked by FIRE was 59.4. Nationwide, the overall average free speech score was 61.36, the highest average score the organization has listed in seven years. 140 schools received a passing grade this year; last year, only 91 passed.

Individual events, or free speech controversies, can also affect a university’s rating — sometimes for years after the fact. These events are categorised into three types of controversies: deplatforming, students under fire and scholars under fire. The threat does not need to be actualised; a group threatening or attempting to do something limiting student expression can count against a university, such as an attempted deplatforming of a speaker.

FIRE’s report lists two speech controversies at UC Davis in recent years that hurt its 2026 score. The first was the 2025 suspension of the Law Student Association over its passing of a resolution divesting from Israeli-connected companies and speakers. While FIRE says administrators “intervened appropriately to ensure viewpoint-neutral access to student funds,” it determined the suspension “ultimately veered into punitive territory, raising concerns about disproportionate sanctioning of student political expression.” The suspension led to a one-point deduction in the university’s score.

The second free speech controversy was the 2023 protests against a Charlie Kirk speaking event, which led to the injury of a police officer and multiple arrests. That event hurt UC Davis’ score by two points.

FIRE’s deplatforming database includes nine events at UC Davis since 2012, including the 2023 Kirk event, but left out at least two other 2025 deplatformings on UC Davis’ campus. The first is the Turning Point USA event that hosted Brandon Tatum in April of that year. Tatum faced several protestors, including a group that attacked and dismantled a booth set up by event organizers. The second deplatforming, in October, occurred when an event hosting Hindu nationalist Sachin Nandha was cancelled by student organizing group Hindu YUVA after backlash from several student groups and clubs.

FIRE’s evaluation system has not been without criticism. As economist Jeffrey Sachs noted in 2022, Florida State University (FSU), a public institution in the state of Florida, was one of the highest-ranked universities in FIRE’s annual review. During that same year, FSU was subject to Florida’s “Individual Freedom Act” — also known as the “Stop WOKE Act” — and it adopted internal policy aligning with the Stop WOKE Act.

FIRE filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida over the Individual Freedom Act, but still gave approval of FSU’s policies regarding freedom of speech by providing the university with a green light rating that year. In response to criticism, FIRE has said that its speech code rankings reflect policies affecting student expression, not classroom instruction or faculty speech.

FIRE did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

Written by: Rivers Stout — campus@theaggie.org