U.S. Colleges Add AI Majors and Minors as Computer Science Enrollment Falls 8%
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 3
U.S. Colleges Add AI Majors and Minors as Computer Science Enrollment Falls 8%
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 3
Summary
Campuses nationwide are rolling out AI minors, majors and graduation requirements for nontechnical students, with schools such as Northwestern, VCU, Purdue, Harvard and Ohio State broadening access beyond computer science.
Employer demand for AI skills is driving the shift even as traditional computer science weakens: spring enrollment in computer and information sciences at four-year schools fell more than 8% from spring 2025, while software developer job postings dropped.
Northwestern, where incoming computer science majors are shrinking, is adding an AI major, easing prerequisites for nonmajors and trying to hire three more faculty as interest spreads across fields including music.
VCU says course approval that once took 1.5 years is now happening in months or weeks, reflecting unusually fast change in higher education as schools race to build AI literacy and career-focused certificates.
The expansion also carries a warning: educators say AI tools lower barriers for novices but could leave graduates relying on systems that do the underlying understanding as well as the coding.