An unusual shift unfolded across University of California campuses this fall. For the first time since the dot-com bust, computer science enrollment declined. Systemwide, it dropped 6% last year after a 3% dip in 2024, according to recent reporting by San Francisco Chronicle. That slide comes even as overall U.S. college enrollment rose 2%, based on January data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Students, it seems, are reconsidering the traditional CS path.

 

The outlier: UC San Diego, the only UC campus to debut a standalone AI major this fall.

 

At first glance, the downturn could look like a short-term reaction to headlines about CS graduates struggling in the job market. But it may signal something more durable — a structural pivot that China has embraced far more aggressively. As MIT Technology Review reported last July, Chinese universities have treated AI not as a disruption to manage but as foundational infrastructure. Nearly 60% of students and faculty in China use AI tools multiple times a day. Institutions such as Zhejiang University have made AI coursework mandatory, while elite schools like Tsinghua University have built entirely new interdisciplinary AI colleges. In China, AI fluency is no longer optional — it’s a baseline expectation.

 

American universities are racing to respond. Over the past two years, dozens have introduced AI-focused programs. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the “AI and decision-making” major has become the second-largest on campus. According to reporting by The New York Times in December, the University of South Florida enrolled more than 3,000 students in its new AI and cybersecurity college during the fall term. The University at Buffalo launched an “AI and Society” department last summer, offering seven new undergraduate degrees and drawing more than 200 applicants before classes even began.

 

Still, the transition has been uneven. When I spoke in October with Lee Roberts, chancellor of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he described a faculty divide: some “leaning forward” into AI, others with “their heads in the sand.” Roberts, a former finance executive new to academia, has pushed aggressively for integration despite resistance. UNC had just announced plans to merge two schools into a new AI-focused entity — a move that sparked faculty criticism — and Roberts appointed a vice provost dedicated to AI. As he put it: no employer will tell graduates to avoid AI, yet some professors are effectively sending that message today.

 

Parents are shaping the shift, too. David Reynaldo, founder of the admissions consultancy College Zoom, told the Chronicle that families who once steered students toward computer science are now nudging them toward fields perceived as less vulnerable to automation, like mechanical or electrical engineering.

 

But the broader data suggests students aren’t abandoning tech — they’re redefining it. An October survey by the Computing Research Association found that 62% of responding departments reported undergraduate enrollment declines this fall. Meanwhile, AI programs are surging. The University of Southern California plans to launch an AI degree this fall, alongside Columbia University, Pace University, and New Mexico State University, among others. What looks like a retreat from computer science may actually be a migration toward AI-centered pathways seen as more aligned with the future job market.

 

It’s too early to know whether this is a lasting realignment, a cyclical panic, or a short-term correction. But it’s clearly a wake-up call for administrators who have spent years debating AI’s place in the classroom. Arguments over banning ChatGPT already feel dated. The real question now is whether U.S. universities can adapt quickly — or whether they’ll keep debating while students gravitate to institutions that have already made AI central to their mission.