Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University is in the Top 10 schools nationally for free speech on campus.
MSU again is being highly rated by the national nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression—or FIRE, which makes the ranking data available at https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2025-college-free-speech-rankings. The data was collected by College Pulse, which surveyed college undergraduate students about their free speech perceptions and experiences on campus.
Ranked at No. 10 nationally, and the only Southeastern Conference university in the Top 10, MSU has long been recognized for upholding policies that maintain First Amendment and free speech protections.
“A university’s strength is rooted in maintaining a marketplace of ideas,” said Dean of Students and Associate Vice Provost for Student Success Thomas Bourgeois. “As I have said in the past, I am proud that MSU continues to have a strong commitment to protecting speech on campus, and although we don’t always agree on the topics of discussion, we recognize the importance of maintaining an environment that allows us to continue to have difficult discussions surrounding the complicated issues our world faces.”
MSU has earned FIRE’s “green light” rating for more than a decade.
Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.