What looks at first like a temporary dip — perhaps tied to headlines about fewer computer science graduates landing jobs straight out of college — may actually signal a longer-term shift, one that China is embracing far more aggressively. As MIT Technology Review reported last July, Chinese universities have gone all in on AI literacy, framing artificial intelligence not as a disruption but as core infrastructure. Nearly 60% of students and faculty in China now use AI tools several times a day. Institutions such as Zhejiang University have made AI classes compulsory, while elite schools like Tsinghua University have established entirely new interdisciplinary AI colleges. In China, AI fluency is no longer a bonus — it’s a baseline expectation.
Universities in the United States are racing to respond. In the past two years, dozens have introduced AI-focused programs. Massachusetts Institute of Technology says its “AI and decision-making” major has already become the second most popular on campus. According to The New York Times, the University of South Florida enrolled more than 3,000 students this fall in a newly created AI and cybersecurity college. Meanwhile, the University at Buffalo launched an “AI and Society” department offering seven specialized undergraduate degrees and attracted more than 200 applicants before officially opening.
The adjustment has not been seamless. When I spoke in October with Lee Roberts, chancellor of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he described a divided faculty — some eagerly embracing AI, others resisting it. Roberts, who came to academia from finance, has pushed strongly for AI integration despite internal opposition. Just a week before our conversation, UNC announced plans to merge two schools to form a new AI-centered entity, prompting pushback from faculty. Roberts also created a vice provost role dedicated to AI. “No one’s going to tell students after graduation, ‘Do your best work, but don’t use AI,’” he said. “Yet some faculty are effectively sending that message now.”
Parents are also influencing the shift. David Reynaldo, founder of the admissions consultancy College Zoom, told the San Francisco Chronicle that families who once steered students toward computer science are now nudging them into fields perceived as less vulnerable to automation, such as mechanical and electrical engineering.
Still, enrollment data suggests students themselves are driving the change. An October survey by the Computing Research Association — whose members include computer science and computer engineering departments nationwide — found that 62% reported declines in undergraduate computing enrollment this fall. Yet with AI programs rapidly expanding, this appears less like a retreat from tech and more like a redirection. The University of Southern California plans to introduce an AI degree next fall, as do Columbia University, Pace University, and New Mexico State University, among others. Students aren’t walking away from technology — they’re gravitating toward AI-centered programs to improve their job prospects.
It’s still unclear whether this shift represents a lasting realignment, a short-lived overreaction, or simply a stopgap response to deeper structural changes. What is clear, however, is that it serves as a warning for university leaders who have spent years debating how to approach AI in academic settings. The era of arguing over whether to ban ChatGPT has largely passed. The more pressing issue now is whether U.S. universities can adapt quickly enough — or whether they’ll remain stuck in deliberation while students gravitate toward institutions that have already figured it out.
