Nearly one out of five college students believe it's acceptable for a student group to use violence to silence a controversial speaker at an on-campus event, according to a new study.

The survey from John Villasenor, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, sheds light on college students' attitudes toward and understanding of the First Amendment. Recently, controversial and conservative speakers scheduled to speak on college campuses nationwide have faced opposition and even violent protests, causing some universities to cancel their appearances or shell out thousands of dollars for security arrangements.

According to the survey, 19 percent of the students polled said they believe it is acceptable for a student group opposed to a speaker known to make offensive and hurtful statements to resort to violence in order to stop the controversial speaker from appearing at an on-campus event.

Eighty-one percent of students said they do not feel using violence to prevent the controversial guest from speaking is acceptable.

When broken out by gender, 30 percent of male students said it's acceptable to use violence to silence a controversial guest, and just 10 percent of women students agreed.

According to the Brookings study, 53 percent of students believe colleges should create a positive learning environment for students by banning specific speech or viewpoints deemed offensive or biased.

When faced with a controversial speaker a student group opposes, 51 percent of students believe it's acceptable for the group to shout down the guest.

When asked whether hate speech is protected by the First Amendment, 44 percent of students said it is not, compared to 39 percent who said it is. Hate speech is constitutionally protected.

Brookings surveyed 1,500 current undergraduate students at four-year colleges and universities across the U.S. from Aug. 17 to Aug. 31. The margin of error is between 2 percent and 6 percent.