Free Speech Survey Results

This week, the Iowa Board of Regents will receive the Free Speech Survey report. This report marks the third iteration of the survey since 2021 and provides results for the survey administered between January 12 and February 13, 2026 to all enrolled students and university faculty and staff.

Student findings:

• 88.9% of students agreed they felt comfortable expressing their opinions related to things they were studying in class. This figure has increased with every survey iteration.
• 79.1% felt comfortable expressing opinions outside of class on campus, and 82.5% agreed their university provides an environment for the free and open expression of ideas, opinions, and beliefs. 
• 76.9% of students agreed that their university does not restrict speech on campus — a small decline since 2024, after a nearly 13 percentage point increase from 2021 to 2024.

Employee Findings:

• 67.4% of employees agreed their university provides an environment for free and open expression. This is a decline from both the 2024 and 2021 surveys, but still represents a large majority of faculty and staff. 
• The largest decline in agreement was seen at Iowa State. This is notable since Iowa State recorded the largest level of agreement in 2024. 
• There were similar overall declines in the percentage of employees who felt comfortable expressing their opinions at work.

In short, students remain broadly positive about free speech on campus. Employees, while reporting less agreement with the statements in 2026 than in 2024, still report broad agreement in terms of freedom of expression on their campuses.