College Students See Less Secure First Amendment Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Majorities of U.S. college students continue to say the five First Amendment freedoms are secure in the country today. However, fewer students now than in 2016 perceive all five as secure. Freedom of the press has suffered the largest decline; the percentage of college students who view that right as secure has dropped by 21 percentage points.

	2016	2017	Change
	%	%	pct. pts.
Freedom to petition the government	76	67	-9
Freedom of speech	73	64	-9
Freedom of religion	68	64	-4
Freedom of the press	81	60	-21
Freedom for people to assemble peacefully	66	57	-9
GALLUP/KNIGHT FOUNDATION COLLEGE STUDENT SURVEY

These results are based on a Gallup/Knight Foundation survey of 3,014 randomly sampled U.S. college students. This 2017 study is an update of a nationally representative 2016 Knight Foundation/Newseum Institute/Gallup survey on the same topic.

College students are most likely to say freedom to petition the government is secure, with 67% holding this view. Slightly fewer say freedom of speech (64%) and freedom of religion (64%) are secure. Sixty percent believe freedom of the press is secure, and 57% say the same about freedom for people to assemble peacefully.

In addition to the double-digit drop in views of the security of press freedom, the latest results show nine-point declines for free speech, freedom to assemble and freedom to petition the government. Students' views of the security of religious freedom have changed the least, edging down four points.

Partisans Have Different Views of First Amendment Freedom Security

In contrast to the 2016 survey, partisans' views of the security of the five First Amendment rights have diverged in the latest poll. Republican college students are far more likely than Democrats to view all five freedoms as secure. The two groups differ most on freedom of the press and freedom of assembly, with less than half of Democrats and more than seven in 10 Republicans believing those rights are secure. Independents tend to see each freedom as less secure than they did in 2016 -- and less secure than Republicans currently do.

	Petition	Press	Assemble	Speech	Religion
	%	%	%	%	%
Republicans	80	79	74	71	71
Independents	70	65	58	66	68
Democrats	61	48	47	59	58
GALLUP/KNIGHT FOUNDATION 2017 COLLEGE STUDENT SURVEY

Republican college students' opinions about the security of the five freedoms generally have not changed, although they are slightly more likely now than in 2016 to say freedom of speech and freedom of religion are secure. The percentages of Democratic college students who believe freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to petition the government are secure have fallen by more than 10 points.

	Petition	Press	Assemble	Speech	Religion
	%	%	%	%	%
Republicans
2016	78	83	76	66	66
2017	80	79	74	71	71
Change (pct. pts.)	+2	-4	-2	+5	+5
Independents
2016	76	78	69	74	71
2017	70	65	58	66	68
Change (pct. pts.)	-6	-13	-11	-8	-3
Democrats
2016	75	83	60	74	66
2017	61	48	47	59	58
Change (pct. pts.)	-14	-35	-13	-15	-8
GALLUP/KNIGHT FOUNDATION COLLEGE STUDENT SURVEY

The largest shift since 2016 among Democratic students is in their views of freedom of the press. That percentage has tumbled 35 points to 48%, while Republican students' views have remained fairly steady at 79%. Independents are also significantly less likely than they were in 2016 to believe freedom of the press is secure.

Racial Differences in Views of First Amendment Freedoms Persist, Worsen

As was the case in 2016, there are significant racial differences among college students in the latest poll. Compared with white students, non-Hispanic black students are less likely to say all of the First Amendment freedoms are secure -- except freedom of the press, for which they hold similar views. White (58%) and black (40%) students differ most on their views of assembly rights as secure.

	Petition	Speech	Religion	Press	Assemble
	%	%	%	%	%
2016
Whites	78	73	69	82	70
Blacks	69	61	57	73	39
2017
Whites	70	66	66	59	58
Blacks	54	54	53	58	40
GALLUP/KNIGHT FOUNDATION COLLEGE STUDENT SURVEY

Bottom Line

Over the past few years, tensions about free expression and inclusiveness on college campuses have escalated across the country. Yet, these latest findings show that campus events or policies related to free speech -- such as instituting speech codes or disinviting controversial speakers -- appear to matter little in how students view the security of free speech rights in this country. For example, students' views of the security of free speech do not differ based on whether their college has a speech code or has disinvited a speaker.

Instead, the changes in views appear to be influenced by the way Democratic and Republican students view the First Amendment guarantees. And this appears to be related to their partisanship and the party of the president. In 2016, when Barack Obama was president, Democrats and Republicans mostly held similar views about the security of First Amendment freedoms. Now, with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Democratic students are much less likely than their Republican counterparts to believe that all five freedoms are secure.