Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by interference. It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism.
Academic freedom is often premised on the conviction that freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts (including those that are inconvenient to external political groups or to authorities) without the fear of being repressed, losing their job or being imprisoned. While the core of academic freedom covers scholars acting in an academic capacity (as teachers or researchers expressing strictly scholarly viewpoints), an expansive interpretation extends these occupational safeguards to scholars' speech on matters outside their professional expertise.
Academic tenure protects academic freedom by ensuring that teachers can be fired only for causes such as gross professional incompetence or behavior that evokes condemnation from the academic community itself. The academic community pressuring scholars can reduce academic freedom.
Historically, academic freedom emerged tentatively, as academics in medieval and early modern Europe could face repression for acting in ways considered objectionable by religious authorities or by governments. Scholars tend to link the institutionalization of academic freedom to the rise of the modern research university and the Humboldtian model of higher education from the 19th century. By one estimate, academic freedom has substantially increased worldwide since the 1960s. Academic freedom is more likely in liberal democratic states, while it is more heavily constrained in authoritarian states, illiberal states, and states embroiled in military conflict. Since 2013, while some countries have seen improvements to academic freedom, the overall trend is towards reductions in freedom.
Definition
A minimal definition of academic freedom is that a teacher has a right to instruct, and a student has a right to learn in an academic setting unhampered by interference. Other definitions include the right of teachers to engage in social and political criticism.
A broader definition of academic freedom incorporates individual, extramural and institutional components. Under this broader definition, an academic has freedom of expression without government interference, but this freedom is circumscribed by academic expertise and position. Academic freedom of speech is therefore narrower than a general freedom of speech. For example, a non-academic has the freedom of speech to criticize the efficacy of vaccines, but only has academic freedom to do so if they possess the prerequisite academic qualifications to do so. Unlike public speech, academic speech is also subject to quality controls by academic peers, for example through peer review.
Universities UK has defined academic freedom as "protecting the intellectual independence of academics to question and test received views and wisdom, and to put forward new ideas and controversial or unpopular opinions, without placing themselves in danger of losing their jobs or privileges", while the American Federation of Teachers has seen it as "based on the idea that the free exchange of ideas on campus is essential to good education". Norwegian education sees it as a guarantee that research and teaching is "intellectually and morally independent of all political and economic interests", leading to openness, free enquiry and debate.
The laissez-faire approach of unaccountable academic freedom is contrasted with democratic accountability of academia.
Historical background
Historically, academic freedom emerged tentatively. However, Richard Hofstadter and Walter Metzger contend that academic freedom is "a modern term for an ancient idea" and "can be traced at least as far back as Socrates' eloquent defense of himself in 399 B.C. against the charge of corrupting the youth of Athens."
In 1155, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa issued the document Authentica habita which laid out rights and privileges of students and scholars, which included immunity from civil jurisdiction and freedom of movement for the purposes of studying and teaching. Similarly, civil disturbances, such as the St Scholastica Day riot of 1355 at the University of Oxford often led to great autonomy for universities. And even those scholars who committed theological heresy, such as John Wyclif and Jan Hus, has support due to their roles as faculty at a university.
19th century
The Humboldtian model of higher education from the 19th century enshrined the basic ideas of academic freedom and diffused them to other countries. Wilhelm von Humboldt was a philosopher and linguist who was given the authority to create a new university in Berlin in the early 19th century. In founding the Humboldt University of Berlin he created a university that adhered to two principles of academic freedom: freedom of scientific inquiry and the unity between research and teaching. According to Humboldt, the fundamental proposition underlying the principles of academic freedom was to uphold the view that science is not something that has already been found but as knowledge that will never be fully discovered and, yet, needs to be searched for unceasingly. The university he founded later became a model and inspiration for modern colleges in Germany and universities in the West.
During this period there was also a sense that universities must be insulated from the pressures of donors, boards of trustees and state governments. One notable instance was the case of the resignation of Brown University president Elisha Andrews, who advocated silver coinage to reduce the impact on Americans and farmers who owed larger and larger loans due to deflation. The board of Brown University, many of whom were creditors and landowners and benefited from deflation, told Andrews to cease his public advocacy. The dean of Yale Law School, Francis Wayland, argued that Andrews' free expression threatened donations to Brown, and that money was the life blood of universities. In 1897, Andrews was forced to offer his resignation, but there was a backlash by faculty and students who advocated that he should be protected under the principles of free speech. The board reversed its decision and refused Andrews' resignation. A year later, Andrews resigned anyway.
20th century
The concept of academic freedom was also formulated in response to the encroachments of the totalitarian state on science and academia in general for the furtherance of its own goals. For instance, in the Soviet Union, scientific research was brought under strict political control in the 1930s. A number of research areas were declared "bourgeois pseudoscience" and forbidden, notably genetics (see "Lysenkoism") and sociology. Marxist scientist John Desmond Bernal characterized this as part of the interdependence between "applied science" and "pure science".
Michael Polanyi argued that a structure of liberty is essential for the advancement of science. In 1936, as a consequence of an invitation to give lectures for the Ministry of Heavy Industry in the USSR, Polanyi met Bukharin, who told him that in socialist societies all scientific research is directed to accord with the needs of the latest five-year plan. Demands in Britain for centrally planned scientific research led Polanyi, together with John Baker, to found the Society for Freedom in Science. The society promoted a liberal conception of science as free enquiry against the instrumental view that science should exist primarily to serve the needs of society. In a series of articles, re-published in The Contempt of Freedom (1940) and The Logic of Liberty (1951), Polanyi claimed that co-operation among scientists is analogous to the way in which agents co-ordinate themselves within a free market. Just as consumers in a free market determine the value of products, science is a spontaneous order that arises as a consequence of open debate among specialists. Science can therefore only flourish when scientists have the liberty to pursue truth as an end in itself:
[S]cientists, freely making their own choice of problems and pursuing them in the light of their own personal judgment, are in fact co-operating as members of a closely knit organization.
Such self-co-ordination of independent initiatives leads to a joint result which is unpremeditated by any of those who bring it about.
Any attempt to organize the group ... under a single authority would eliminate their independent initiatives, and thus reduce their joint effectiveness to that of the single person directing them from the centre. It would, in effect, paralyse their co-operation.
Rationale
Proponents of academic freedom believe that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy. They argue that academic communities are repeatedly targeted for repression due to their ability to shape and control the flow of information. When scholars attempt to teach or communicate ideas or facts that are inconvenient to external political groups or to authorities, they may find themselves targeted for public vilification, job loss, imprisonment, or even death. For example, in North Africa, a professor of public health discovered that his country's infant mortality rate was higher than government figures indicated. He lost his job and was imprisoned.
The fate of biology in the Soviet Union is cited by Jasper Becker as a reason why society has an interest in protecting academic freedom. Also it is important to make the distinction between science and pseudoscience, on the border of this lies the case of a Soviet biologist Trofim Lysenko rejected Western science – then focused primarily on making advances in theoretical genetics, based on research with the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) – and proposed an approach to farming that was based on the collectivist principles of dialectical materialism. Lysenko called this "Michurinism", but it is more commonly known today as Lysenkoism, and named after him. Lysenko's ideas appealed to the Soviet leadership, in part because of their value as propaganda, and he was ultimately made director of the Soviet Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Subsequently, Lysenko directed a purge of scientists who professed "harmful ideas", resulting in the expulsion, imprisonment, or death of hundreds of Soviet scientists. Lysenko's ideas were then implemented on collectivized farms in the Soviet Union and China. Famines that resulted partly from Lysenko's influence are believed to have killed 30 million people in China alone during the Great Leap Forward.
Sociologist Ruth Pearce argued that the concept of academic freedom exists to protect scholarship from censure by state or religious authorities or others, and not to defend intolerance. Academic freedom can be reduced through scholars pressuring other scholars and resulting self-censorship or political bias.
A large-scale empirical study, covering more than 157 countries over the 1900-2015 period, links academic freedom to the quality and quantity of patents filed in a given country. David Audretsch and colleagues estimate that academic freedom has declined over the last decade for the first time over their century-long observation period, resulting in at least 4% fewer patents filed. The study claims to be the first to link academic freedom to economic growth through an innovation channel.
Academic freedom has also been identified as a leading indicator for whether a government will become more or less democratic.
Academic Freedom Index
In 2020, the V-Dem Institute partnered with Scholars at Risk to create the first index of Academic freedom. The index provides retroactive ratings for countries going back to 1900 that are also updated yearly. The index estimates academic freedom using five categories that follow the UNESCO definition:
freedom to research and teach
freedom of academic exchange and dissemination
institutional autonomy
campus integrity
freedom of academic and cultural expression
As of 2025, academic freedom overall around the world has been in retreat since 2013. Causes cited have included authoritarianism as well as political polarization and populism.
Country-specific
The concept of academic freedom as a right of faculty members is an established part of most legal systems. While in the United States the constitutional protection of academic freedom derives from the guarantee of free speech under the First Amendment, the constitutions of other countries (particularly in civil law systems) typically grant a separate right to free learning, teaching, and research.
Australia
Chile
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, students and faculty began advocating for the democratization of university life in Chile. However, after the 1973 coup, academic freedom under the Pinochet military dictatorship was repressed. Nevertheless, during the 1980s, students and faculty, with support from members of the public, collaborated to protect academic freedom.
Since the transition to democracy after the end of the Pinochet regime in 1990, academic freedom in higher education in Chile has been strong. In 2025, Chile ranked in the top ten percent of countries on the Academic Freedom Index (AFI).
China
Academic freedom is severely limited in China. Academics have noted an incentive not to express 'incorrect' opinions about issues sensitive to the Government of China and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These efforts have been effective in causing academics to self-censor and shift academic discourse.
During the general secretaryship of Xi Jinping, universities in the country have increasingly been put under the direct management of a CCP committee secretary and have intensified ideological controls. In December 2020, the Associated Press reported that China was controlling scientific research into the origins of COVID-19 under direct orders from CCP general secretary Xi Jinping. According to the report, an order by China's State Council required all research to be approved by a task force under their management, saying scientific publication should be orchestrated like "a game of chess", warning that those who publish without permission will be held accountable.
According to National Public Radio, from 2013 to 2017, at least 109 universities in China issued their first charters affirming the CCP leadership. In 2020, Shanghai's Fudan University removed freedom of thought from its charter following the December 2019 revision of the school charter to emphasize loyalty to the CCP.
Hong Kong academia expressed concerns about the impact of the 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law on academic freedom in Hong Kong. As of 2025, it ranked in the bottom 20% worldwide for academic freedom according to the Academic Freedom Index.
In an August 2021 study, Jue Jiang from the University of London argued that academic freedom in China is impaired by the CCP's system of student informants, who are recruited and encouraged to watch and inform on their professors on university campuses.
Denmark
Danish law guarantees both institutional and individual academic freedom at universities, yet the country ranked 24th of 28 EU states in 2017 and 32nd of 179 countries in a 2024 study. Researchers and the academic union DM reported in 2024 that political pressure, insecure employment, competition for external funding and limited public awareness are weakening independence and discouraging basic research. In 2021, a political campaign against alleged “pseudo-research and activism” led to parliamentary resolution V137, with some politicians demanding interventions, lists of “dangerous” programmes and the closure of certain research fields. Over 3,000 academics signed a petition arguing the resolution threatened academic freedom and could increase self-censorship and harassment, including on social media. Earlier and ongoing controversies include the 1986 government-ordered closure of a sociology programme at Copenhagen University and recent proposals from Danish People's Party and Liberal Alliance to shut down Roskilde University for ideological reasons, including for being 'woke'.
Hungary
Central European University was forced to leave Hungary after its academic freedom deteriorated under Victor Orban. In 2020, students protested the overhauling by the government of the University of Theater and Film Arts.
India
As of 2025, India ranks in the bottom 10-20% of countries globally.
Ireland
Protections for academic freedom for research, teaching and other activity "to question and test received wisdom, to put forward new ideas and to state controversial or unpopular opinions" without being disadvantaged, are provided in Section 14 of the 1997 Universities Act.
Israel
Academic freedom in Israel is taken from "the Law of the Council for Higher Education". Paragraph 15 in which it states that "a recognized institution is free to all its academic and administrative matters, within the framework of its budget, as it sees fit. In this paragraph, 'academic and administrative matters' – includes: determining a research and teaching program, appointing the authorities of the institution, appointing teachers and promoting them, determining a teaching method and study, and any other scientific, educational or economic activity". It seems that the paragraph is worded in a clear and comprehensible way even for laymen. The body that is supposed to guard academic freedom, as well as maintain an adequate academic level in the higher education institutions, is the Council for Higher Education – hereinafter "The Council". This council consists of academics who serve as professors at universities, and public figures, with the Minister of Education as the head of the council.
At the disposal of "The Council" is an executive body called the "Committee for Planning and Budgeting", which mainly deals with the matter of universities budgeting and establishing relevant procedures and guidelines for budget and salary matters. Another body that is supposed to guard academic freedom is the "Committee of the Heads of the Universities", which is a voluntary body, but has an influence on the work of the Legislature and "The Council ". Through their employee committees, and through the personal activity of each of them, these bodies can try and influence the preservation of academic freedom.
In general, it can be said that the essential academic freedom, the one aimed at the freedom of teaching and research, was preserved, and the government neither interfered nor tried to interfere in these contents. Its way of influencing this matter is by providing incentives for teaching in this or that way, or for research in certain fields, and this is through grants. The fact that the government finances a significant percentage of the current budget of the universities (around 70% or more), also allows the government to decide what will be the tuition fee for a student at the budgeted universities in Israel. But, In 2021, an academic committee of the prestigious Israel Prize decided to award the Israel Prize in the field of mathematics and computer science to Professor Oded Goldreich from the Weizmann Institute of Science. The Minister of Education did not accept the committee's recommendation on the grounds that Goldreich signed a petition calling for an academic boycott of Ariel University, which is located in the territories of Judea and Samaria, which are occupied territory, as well as for appealing to the German government to revoke its decision that the BDS movement is an anti-Semitic movement. The award committee appealed to the Supreme Court for a violation of its academic freedom, and the court overturned the decision, and ordered the Minister of Education to award Goldreich the award. Godreich received the award a year later.
In recent years, a fierce debate has erupted on the issue of academic freedom, following extreme political statements by a number of university faculty members. The vast majority of the controversial statements were those that called for an academic boycott of Israel, or support for organizations that support an economic and academic boycott of Israel. The question that was at the center of the storm was whether an academic faculty member (hereafter referred to as a professor) is protected by the principle of freedom of speech, or is it forbidden, when he wears the guise of a professor, to express a political position that might identify the position with the institution he allegedly represents. All the more, is it permissible for the professor to express a political position during his teaching, and even to invite representatives of political bodies to lecture in his classes, and without maintaining a balance between those invited. Referring to that background, the Minister of Education at the time Naftali Bennett (in 2017) asked Prof. Asa Kasher to compile an academic Code of Ethics for universities, a code that was approved by "The Council" in March 2018. All the research universities (7 universities), with the exception of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, which already had for an academic code of ethics that also included the issue of freedom of expression, refused to adopt this code on the grounds of infringing academic freedom.