Academic freedom is declining around the world, according to the latest update in the 2026 Academic Freedom Index (AFI), with dozens of countries getting worse and only nine getting better in recent years. The U.S. is in dire straits, the report concludes, with a "fast and steep deterioration" in institutional autonomy. "The decline in academic freedom in the United States began around 2020, largely fueled by state-level actions in several states, and mostly undertaken by officials aligned with the MAGA movement," the report conludes. "In 2025, under the second Trump Administration, attacks on academic freedom at the state level intensified, supported by an array of federal measures. These attacks undermine not only individual-level freedoms by targeting faculty members, staff, and students, but also and more prominently, the autonomy of higher education institutions.…