Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a must-have skill on college campuses, with universities across the U.S. expanding AI courses and degree programs for students far beyond computer science.
Faith Maeba, a 21-year-old psychology student at Virginia Commonwealth University, was initially unsure about studying AI. Now pursuing an AI minor, she believes it will help her stand out as employers increasingly expect graduates to understand the technology.
"It's giving me an edge and standing out," Maeba said.
The shift comes as hiring for entry-level software developers has cooled and enrollment in computer science programs has declined. At the same time, demand for AI education is soaring among students studying subjects ranging from psychology and biology to music and the arts.
Universities are quickly reshaping their curricula to keep pace. VCU has launched an AI minor for non-computer science students, Purdue University now requires AI competency for graduation, Ohio State University has introduced mandatory AI fluency training, and Harvard is incorporating AI, copyright and misinformation into freshman writing courses.
Peter Stone, chair of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, said AI literacy is becoming as essential as reading, writing and math.
"We have to democratize it," Stone said. "Everybody needs a degree of AI literacy."
Northwestern University is also seeing growing demand from students outside computer science. The school is adding an AI major while making AI and machine learning classes easier for non-majors to access.
"Overall, classes are going to be a lot more accessible moving forward," computer science chair Samir Khuller said.
The growing interest comes despite an 8% drop in enrollment in computer and information sciences at four-year colleges this spring, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Job postings for software developers have also fallen, prompting many students to pursue AI skills that complement careers in other fields rather than traditional programming roles.
Music students are using AI to edit recordings and generate instrument tracks, while biology, psychology and business students are increasingly learning how AI can be applied in their professions.
Some educators, however, warn that relying too heavily on AI could weaken students' understanding of core concepts.
"When you ask the AI to do it for you, on the surface it might just seem it is writing the code," said University of Washington doctoral researcher Murtaza Ali. "But under the hood, it's actually also doing the understanding of the task for you."
Even so, colleges are moving faster than ever to keep up with the technology. VCU said creating a new course once took about 18 months, but AI-related programs can now be developed in months or even weeks.
Community colleges are moving just as quickly. Johnson County Community College in Kansas recently launched a non-credit "vibe coding" course designed to teach people with little technical experience how to build software using AI.
"What AI does is shrink that distance between a complete novice and an expert," workforce development coordinator Grant Carlson said.
For many students, AI is becoming less of a specialty and more of a basic workplace skill, with universities racing to prepare graduates for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
