Something strange happened on the campuses of the University of California this fall. For the first time since the dot-com crash, enrollment in computer science has fallen. Systemwide, it is down 6% this year after a 3% decline in 2024, according to reports last week in the San Francisco Chronicle. Even as total college enrollment rose 2% nationally — according to January data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center — students are funding traditional CS degrees.
The one exception is UC San Diego — the only UC campus to add an AI major this fall.
All of this may seem like a temporary blip, coupled with reports that fewer CS grads are looking for jobs out of college. But it is a more likely indicator of the future that China is embracing far more enthusiastically. As MIT Technology Review reported last July, Chinese universities have leaned heavily on AI literacy, viewing AI not as a threat but as essential infrastructure. Nearly 60% of Chinese students and teachers now use AI tools multiple times a day, and schools like Zhejiang University have introduced mandatory AI courses, while top institutions like Tsinghua have created brand new interdisciplinary AI colleges. In China, fluency with AI is no longer optional; it’s table stakes.
American universities are trying to catch up. In the past two years, dozens have launched AI-specific programs. MIT’s “AI and Decision Making” major is now the second largest major on campus, the school says. As the New York Times reported in December, the University of South Florida enrolled more than 3,000 students in its new college of AI and cybersecurity during the fall semester. The University at Buffalo launched a new “AI and Society” department last summer, offering seven new specialized undergraduate degree programs, and accepted more than 200 applicants before opening its doors.
The transition was not smooth everywhere. When I spoke with UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts in October, he described a spectrum — some teachers “leaning forward” with AI, others with their “heads in the sand.” Roberts, a former CFO who came from outside academia, pushed hard for AI integration despite faculty resistance. A week earlier, UNC announced it would merge the two schools to create an entity focused on artificial intelligence — a decision that drew faculty backlash. Roberts also appointed a vice provost specifically for AI. “Nobody is going to tell students after they graduate, ‘Do the best work you can, but if you’re using AI, you’re going to be in trouble,'” Roberts told me. “Yet we have faculty members who are actually saying that right now.
Parents also play a role in this rocky transition. David Reynaldo, who runs admissions consultancy College Zoom, told the Chronicle that parents who once pushed kids into CS are now reflexively steering them toward other fields that appear more resistant to AI automation, including mechanical and electrical engineering.
But enrollment numbers suggest students are voting with their feet. According to an October survey by the nonprofit Computing Research Association — whose members include computer science and computer engineering departments from a wide range of universities — 62% of respondents said their computing programs saw enrollment decline this fall. But with AI programs on the rise, it looks less like a tech exodus and more like a migration. University of Southern California launches AI degree this fall; as well as Columbia University, Pace University, and New Mexico State University, among many others. Students don’t leave tech; instead, they choose AI-focused programs.
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It is too early to tell whether this recalibration is permanent or a temporary panic. But it’s certainly a wake-up call for administrators who have struggled for years with how to handle AI in the classroom. The debate over whether to ban ChatGPT is ancient history at this point. The question now is whether America’s universities can move fast enough, or whether they will continue to argue about what to do while students transfer to schools that already have the answers.