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 is down. System-wide, it fell 6% this year after falling 3% in 2024, according to reports last week by the San Francisco Chronicle. Even as a total college enrollment rose 2% nationally — according to January data from the National Student Attrition Research Center — students are bailing out with traditional CS degrees.
The only exception is UC San Diego — the only UC campus to add a dedicated AI this fall.
All of this may seem like a temporary conflict tied to news about fewer CS grads finding work out of college. But it’s more likely an indicator of the future, something China is embracing far more enthusiastically. As MIT Technology Review reported last JulyChinese universities have leaned hard on AI literacy, viewing AI not as a threat but as essential infrastructure. Nearly 60% of Chinese students and faculty now use AI tools multiple times a day, and schools like Zhejiang University have made AI courses mandatory, while top institutions like Tsinghua have created entirely new interdisciplinary AI colleges. In China, fluency with artificial intelligence is no longer optional. they are tables.
US universities are trying to catch up. In the past two years, dozens of AI-specific programs have been launched. MIT’s “AI and decision-making” major is now the second major major on campus, the school says. As reported by the New York Times in December, the University of South Florida enrolled over 3,000 students in a new college of AI and cyber security during his winter semester. The University at Buffalo last summer launched a new department ‘AI and Society’ offering seven new, specialized undergraduate degree programs and received 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 schools are “leaning forward” with AI, others with “their heads in the sand.” Roberts, a former finance executive who arrived from outside academia, pushed hard for AI integration despite faculty resistance. A week earlier, UNC had announced it would merger of two schools to create an AI-focused entity — a decision that sparked backlash from faculty. Roberts had also appointed a vice president specifically for artificial intelligence. “No one is going to tell students after they graduate, ‘Do the best job you can, but if you’re using AI, you’re going to be in trouble,'” Roberts told me. “However, we have faculty members who are essentially saying that right now.”
Parents also play a role in this difficult transition. David Reynaldo, who runs college admissions consulting firm Zoom, told the Chronicle that parents who once pushed kids toward CS are now reflexively steering them toward other majors that seem more resistant to AI automation, including mechanical and electrical engineering.
But enrollment numbers suggest students are voting with their feet. According to a overview in October by the nonprofit Computer Research Association — whose members include computer science and computer engineering departments from a wide range of universities — 62 percent of respondents said their computing programs saw a drop in undergraduate enrollment this fall. But with AI programs in motion, it looks less like a tech exodus and more like an immigration. The University of Southern California is launching an AI degree this coming fall; so it is Columbia University, Pace Universityand New Mexico State Universityamong many others. Students are not abandoning technology. Instead, they choose programs that focus on artificial intelligence.
Techcrunch event
Boston, MA
|
June 23, 2026
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 spent years struggling 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 American universities can move fast enough or whether they will continue to argue over what to do while students are transferred to schools that already have answers.
