Academic freedom has declined sharply in the United States because of state and federal actions that have weakened institutional autonomy, says a new report.
That finding, in the Academic Freedom Index Update 2026, is part of what the report’s authors see as a significant and systemic challenge for higher education around the world.
The report assesses the state of academic freedom in 179 countries and territories overall as of December 2025. Over the preceding decade, academic freedom declined in 50 countries, while nine countries registered improvements, it says.
Produced by researchers at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg and the V-Dem Institute, in Sweden, the report is based on assessments by 2,357 country experts worldwide who gauge de facto levels of academic freedom across five indicators.
The indicators include three individual dimensions (freedom to research and teach, freedom of academic exchange and dissemination, and freedom of academic and cultural expression), and two institutional dimensions (institutional autonomy and campus integrity).
