Academic freedom slides globally, as it takes a nosedive in the US
By 
Anthony King2026-04-24T08:30:00
The last decade has seen institutional autonomy curbed in 50 countries
Academic freedom continues to decline globally, with a marked fall in the US, according to the 2026 update to the Academic Freedom Index. The index revealed that over the last decade academic freedom has slipped in 50 countries, with just nine registering improvement.
‘There is a negative downward trend for liberal democracies, which is the case in the UK but also Portugal, Germany, Austria, Italy and Greece,’ says Angelo Panaro, an author of the update at the Institute of Political Science at Friedrich-Alexander University, Germany.