Scholars at Risk (SAR) has provided an alarming stark account of the state of academic freedom in the United States. They documented 40 such attacks in only the first half of 2025. This dangerous increase reflects a significant change in the nature of these attacks. Since the start of 2025, they have been on the rise largely due to steps implemented by the federal government. The report illustrates a cascade of governmental actions that undermine the basic tenets of academic freedom. These actions cause us deep concern for what they represent for the future of this nation’s higher education sector.
The SAR report paints a damning picture of how the U.S. government has gone to extreme lengths to punish academics. They have withheld research grants, arrested foreign scholars, and tried to deport them for their political beliefs. The administration is genuinely doubling down on their support for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. They’re fueling advocacy for educational initiatives that have historically empowered underrepresented communities in higher education.
The last administration under Donald Trump only exacerbated the crisis. In fact, they passed over 30 bills concerning higher education even within the first 75 days of their session. These measures included executive orders that removed diversity and gender equity programming, restricting and narrowing the academic environment even more.
Moreover, the federal government has investigated antisemitism at more than 60 universities, freezing billions in federal research funds while imposing new caps on student loans and restrictions on Pell grants’ eligibility. The SAR report noted that cuts at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have devastated higher education and research initiatives on a global scale.
So far in 2024, SAR has recorded 80 cases of governmental pressure on universities. It resulted in a chilling effect on the field, creating fear and uncertainty for students and scholars alike. The global watchdog organization’s annual report, now known as Free to Think 2025, is once again chronicling a grim reality. Depressingly, academic freedom has become increasingly eroded in recent years.
“The space for academic freedom has shrunk at an accelerating pace over the past decade.” – Scholars at Risk report
Robert Quinn, executive director of SAR, underscored how unprecedented this moment is.
“We are witnessing an unprecedented situation – really as far as I can tell in history – where a global leader of education and research is voluntarily dismantling that which gave it an advantage,” – Robert Quinn, executive director of Scholars at Risk (SAR)
Unsurprisingly, the SAR report doesn’t just center on what’s happening here at home, but is deeply troubled by alarming trends across the globe. As an example, national student-led anti-government protests in Bangladesh were crushed with such brutality that no fewer than 1,400 protestors died. In the case of Serbia, for instance, authorities threatened to deprive public universities of funding and delayed salaries for professors who backed anti-corruption movements. Each of these examples underscores a spreading international trend in which governments are leveraging their authority to silence scholarly discussion.
The findings of this report underscore a troubling reality: even nations with established democratic institutions are witnessing elected officials with autocratic tendencies undermining universities and other democratic institutions.
“Even in societies that have long had strong and stable democratic institutions, elected officials with autocratic impulses are using both the levers of democracy and extralegal administrative measures to undermine democratic institutions, including universities.” – Scholars at Risk report