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The American Association of University Professors’ (AAUP) 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure clearly articulates the purpose of the university:

1. “Promote inquiry and advance the sum of human knowledge.”
2. “Provide general instruction to the students.”
3. “Develop experts for various branches of the public service.”

The thousands of colleges and universities in the U.S. vary by size, prestige, cost, location, and more. Historically, institutional prestige has been touted as the most important characteristic when assessing educational quality. Indeed, Ivy League institutions produce a disproportionate share of business, political, and cultural elites. But prestige is not an accurate indicator of a university’s ability to promote inquiry, instruct students, or develop expertise.

FIRE believes free inquiry and free expression are necessary precursors to promoting inquiry and educating students, and that measures of a vibrant free speech culture are useful to inform current and prospective students, parents, and faculty as to which institutions will serve them best. In addition to free speech, ideological diversity provides an environment in which students’ ideas are challenged and faculty are driven deeper in their search for truth.

In this document, we provide one-page reports that compare and evaluate 55 institutions — varying in size, prestige, and type — on a variety of metrics including free speech, ideological diversity among students and faculty, administrative size, enrollment, faculty tenure, and institutional spending.