Fifteen Pennsylvania colleges and universities drew failing grades on free speech friendliness in an evaluation recently released by a First Amendment group that looked at student attitudes, school policies and other benchmarks.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or F.I.R.E., issued an overall “F” grade for the nation’s universities in its sixth annual report, warning that students from across the political spectrum increasingly support censorship.
“Rather than hearing out and then responding to an ideological opponent, both liberal and conservative college students are retreating from the encounter entirely,” F.I.R.E. CEO Greg Lukianoff said in a statement on Sept. 9. “This will only harm students’ ability to think critically and create rifts between them.”
Drexel University in Philadelphia earned the commonwealth’s lowest score, ranking 243rd out of the 257 U.S. universities evaluated by the group. F.I.R.E. put Gettysburg College in the Keystone State’s top spot, although the central Pennsylvania school still earned a failing grade.
Overall, the commonwealth’s colleges performed roughly the same as a year ago, receiving a score of 54.7 compared to a 54 in the 2024 report.
The F.I.R.E. rankings are based on a survey of college students, school policies and efforts to cancel speaker appearances or punish students or faculty because of their views.
Nearly half of the Pennsylvania college students who completed the survey reported self-censoring at least monthly, and more than 70% said they support shouting down a speaker in some cases. About 31% said it’s sometimes acceptable to use violence to stop someone from speaking on campus, according to the F.I.R.E. report.
F.I.R.E. also penalized several colleges for what it believes were attempts to crack down on free expression. In one 2025 case, the group says, Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster disabled comments on an Instagram post that celebrated Transgender Visibility Day. At the time, the college was facing criticism for promoting an upcoming event with a speaker who opposes gender-affirming health care for minors.
In another example, Temple University placed a student on interim suspension after he ordered bottle service at a bar along with an antisemitic sign.
Here’s how the 15 Pennsylvania colleges stacked up in the F.I.R.E. report:
- Gettysburg College earned a score of 60 and ranked 91st out of 257 universities nationwide.
- Carnegie Mellon University earned a score of 59 and ranked 98th.
- Pennsylvania State University earned a score of 58 and ranked 109th.
- Franklin & Marshall College earned a score of 58 and ranked 119th.
- Bucknell University earned a score of 57 and ranked 133rd.
- Lehigh University earned a score of 57 and ranked 142nd.
- Duquesne University earned a score of 56 and ranked 174th.
- Swarthmore College earned a score of 54 and ranked 199th.
- Temple University earned a score of 54 and ranked 204th.
- Haverford College earned a score of 53 and ranked 212th.
- University of Pittsburgh earned a score of 52 and ranked 219th.
- University of Pennsylvania earned a score of 52 and ranked 231st.
- Lafayette College earned a score of 51 and ranked 232nd.
- Villanova University earned a score of 51 and ranked 237th.
- Drexel University earned a score of 50 and ranked 243rd.
The nation’s top-ranked institution, and the only one to receive better than a “C” from F.I.R.E., was Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, with a “B-“. Barnard College, in New York, was last in the rankings.
