SEPTEMBER 23, 2024, NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Heterodox Academy (HxA), a non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to improving institutions of higher education by advocating principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement released a research report showing that student reluctance to discuss controversial issues on campus and in the classroom is universal geographically and across institutional types.

Given the significant media focus devoted to the problem of campus expression at relatively prestigious institutions of higher education, or those located in urban areas or politically liberal coastal cities, it is tempting to think that campus expression is more stifled in those places than elsewhere in the US. The data, however, suggest this is not correct.

The new report analyzed whether Carnegie Classification, student population size, average class size, public vs. private control, or geographic location within the United States varied with average student reluctance to discuss various controversial issues on campus and in the classroom. Across each variable, no significant differences were found, indicating that student reluctance is a universal problem across the academy.

The new report is part of HxA’s annual Campus Expression Survey that surveys a nationally representative convenience sample of full-time college undergraduates at four-year colleges and universities within the US. The analyses are based on compiled data from 5,203 CES respondents collected between 2019-2022.

HxA created the Campus Expression Survey in 2019 to measure the extent to which students feel reluctant to discuss various topics on their campuses, including timely topics unique to each year’s campus climate, with a focus on identifying variables associated with students’ reluctance to express their views. More reports based on these data can be found on HxA’s website.