2025 "Year of catastrophe" for US higher education as censorship reaches unprecedented heights

The last twelve months have been a "year of catastrophe" for freedom of speech at colleges and universities in the US, according to a report released by PEN America, a non-profit organisation advocating for free expression.

The report, titled "America’s Censored Campuses 2025: Expanding the Web of Control" and which was published on 15/01/2026, says that there has been a relentless campaign from both state legislatures and the federal government to exert ideological control over colleges and universities in the US.

The report identifies 2025 as an exceptional year for censorship in higher education. State legislatures set three new records: the highest number of new laws enacted in a single year (21), the highest number of states enacting them (15), and the highest number of states enacting their first-ever higher education censorship law (8).

"More than half of US college and university students now study in a state with at least one law or policy restricting what can be taught or how campuses can operate. The Trump administration has weaponised multiple levers of state power to…