COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOWO) — Fourteen Ohio colleges and universities received “yellow light” ratings in a new national review of campus free speech policies, while one Ohio school earned the highest rating for protecting student expression. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FI RE, reviewed the written speech policies at nearly 500 public and private colleges and universities nationwide for its 20th annual assessment. FIRE’s rating system is designed to identify policies that could restrict constitutionally protected speech or make it difficult for students to understand what speech is allowed on campus. No Ohio institution included in the review received FIRE’s lowest, or “red light,” rating. Cleveland State University was the only Ohio school to receive a “green light” rating, meaning FIRE determined its written policies do not seriously threaten student expression. The remaining 14 Ohio schools in the report received “yellow light” ratings. They are Bowling Green State University, Case Western Reserve University, Kent State University, Kenyon College, Miami University, Oberlin College, Ohio University, Shawnee State University, Ohio State University, the University of Akron, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Toledo, Wright State University and Youngstown State University. A yellow-light designation does not mean FIRE found that a school routinely suppresses speech according to the Ohio Capital Journal. Instead, the organization says the rating applies when a university has policies that could be too broadly applied against protected expression, or when a policy restricts speech in more limited circumstances. FIRE defines a red-light institution as one with at least one policy that “clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech,” or a school that limits public access to its speech-related policies by requiring a university login and password. Nationally, 65 colleges and universities received a red-light designation in the latest report. That represents 13.2% of the schools reviewed — the lowest percentage FIRE has recorded since it began conducting the annual assessment. The change is significant compared with FIRE’s first report in 2006, when 68.6% of the institutions reviewed received red-light ratings. The vast majority of schools in the latest review landed in the middle category. About 340 colleges and universities, or 69.4%, received yellow-light ratings. FIRE says those institutions have policies that could too easily be used to suppress protected speech, or have rules that restrict expression in narrower circumstances. Another 76 universities received green-light ratings. FIRE also found a continuing difference between public and private institutions. “In general, private schools maintain more restrictive speech codes than their public counterparts,” the organization said in its report, adding that private schools are less likely to receive green-light ratings and more likely to receive red-light ratings. At public universities, FIRE said 68 schools earned green-light ratings, compared with 37 private schools receiving red-light ratings. The Ohio results come amid an ongoing debate over the role of free speech and academic freedom at colleges and universities in the state. Ohio Senate Bill 1, a sweeping higher education law, took effect last summer and changed how public universities address issues including diversity programs, classroom discussions, faculty labor actions and post-tenure review. The law also includes provisions affecting diversity scholarships and allows for certain retrenchment measures that can affect collective bargaining over tenure. Supporters of the law have argued it is intended to promote intellectual diversity, limit ideological requirements and increase accountability at public universities. Critics have raised concerns about the impact of the law on academic freedom, faculty rights and the ability of universities to make their own decisions about campus programs. FIRE’s latest report evaluates written institutional policies rather than making a broader judgment about the political climate or individual speech disputes at each university. That distinction is important because a yellow-light rating does not necessarily mean a university has punished a student for protected expression. Instead, FIRE’s analysis focuses on the language contained in university policies and whether those rules could potentially be applied in ways that restrict protected speech. For Ohio students, the report puts most of the state’s largest public universities in the yellow-light category, while Cleveland State stands alone with a green-light designation. Nationally, however, FIRE says the overall trend is moving away from the most restrictive category. The percentage of schools receiving red-light ratings has fallen dramatically since FIRE began tracking campus speech policies two decades ago. FIRE’s assessment is part of its broader effort to monitor free expression at colleges and universities and encourage institutions to adopt policies that clearly protect constitutionally protected speech. The organization says the goal of its rating system is to give students, faculty and the public a way to evaluate the speech rules governing college campuses before disputes arise. 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