College Bill of Rights eLesson

For a lot of students, college is the next step after high school. The transition to a college environment comes with new opportunities and responsibilities. Once people turn 18, they come into the full enjoyment of their rights as adults. This means that the First Amendment rights of a college freshman attending a public university are the same as the rights of any other adult.

In practice, however, public universities claim that they have a special need to restrict First Amendment rights in ways that might be unconstitutional in other settings. In partnership with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, this lesson explores some issues and events that are especially important for rising college students to understand in light of their constitutional rights.

And get more information and resources at!

Handout (PDF)