Abstract: Those who feel the effects of academic freedom most acutely are not a small group of educators, but the roughly 340 million members of the general public. In this essay, I argue that it is a responsibility of those who work in higher education to show how our work benefits the public good and consequentially permeates many areas of our everyday lives that we never think twice about – but should.
Citation: Citation: Pachucki M.C. “Academic Freedom Is a Public Good”. Science Politics, April 27, 2026. https://sciencepolitics.org/2026/04/27/academic-freedom-is-a-public-good/