The Great Computer Science Exodus (And Where Will Students Go Instead)

Something strange happened on the UCLA campus this fall. For the first time since the dot-com bust, computer science enrollment has declined. At the system level, it fell 6% this year After falling by 3% in 2024, according to a report published by the San Francisco Chronicle last week. Even with total college enrollment It rose 2% nationally – According to January data from the National Student Exchange Research Center – students are abandoning traditional computer science degrees.

The only exception is UC San Diego – the only UC campus to add a Specializing in artificial intelligence this fall.

All of this may seem like a temporary blip linked to news about fewer computer science graduates Find work outside of college. But it is likely an indicator of the future, and one that China embraces most enthusiastically. As MIT Technology Review Reported last JulyChinese universities have paid great attention to AI literacy, not treating AI as a threat, but as essential infrastructure. Nearly 60% of Chinese students and faculty now use AI tools multiple times daily, and schools like Zhejiang University have made AI coursework compulsory, while major institutions like Tsinghua have created entirely new interdisciplinary AI colleges. In China, fluency with AI is no longer optional; It’s table stakes.

American universities are struggling to catch up. Over the past two years, dozens of AI programs have been launched. “Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making” at MIT is now the major The second largest specialty On campus, the school says. As The New York Times reported in December, more than 3000 students In a New College of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity During the fall semester. University at Buffalo Last summer It launched a new department entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Society” offering seven new specialized university programs, and this department was awarded the award More than 200 applicants Before it opens its doors.

The transition hasn’t been smooth everywhere. When I talked to UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts In October, he described a broad spectrum of students: some faculty “leaning forward” with AI, others “burying their heads in the sand.” Roberts, a former CFO who arrived from outside academia, has been pushing hard for AI integration despite resistance from faculty. A week earlier, the United Nations Command announced that it would do so Merging two schools To create an entity focused on artificial intelligence, a decision that sparked opposition from faculty. Roberts also named a vice provost dedicated to artificial intelligence. “No one is going to say to students after they graduate, ‘Do the best job you can,’” Roberts told me, “but if you use AI, you will get in trouble.” “However, we have faculty effectively saying that now.”

Parents play a role in this difficult transition as well. Parents who once pushed their children toward computer science are now reflexively steering them toward other majors that seem more resistant to AI automation, including mechanical and electrical engineering, David Rinaldo, who runs the admissions consulting firm College Zoom, told The Chronicle.

But registration numbers indicate that students are voting with their feet. According to A reconnaissance In an October report by the nonprofit Computing Research Association, whose membership includes computer science and computer engineering departments from a wide range of universities, 62% of respondents reported that their computing programs saw a decline in undergraduate enrollment this fall. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence programs are exploding. University of Southern California is Launch of artificial intelligence degree Next fall; So is she Columbia University, Pace Universityand New Mexico State Universityamong other things. The bet is that students don’t give up on technology; They are opting for AI-focused programs instead.

It is too early to say whether this shift is permanent or a temporary panic. But it certainly serves as a wake-up call for administrators who have spent years struggling with how to handle AI in the classroom. The debate over banning ChatGPT is ancient history at this point. The question now is whether American universities can move quickly enough or whether they will continue to argue about this issue while students move to schools that already have answers.