I’m sure to no one’s surprise, more colleges are offering an AI major, minor, and/or concentration.
Only five schools offered A.I. majors in 2021. Now, universities are setting up programs so quickly that researchers are struggling to track them. At least 74 A.I. majors and 89 minors are available on American campuses, according to Northeastern University’s Center for Inclusive Computing.
At least another dozen schools, many of them far from Silicon Valley, are poised to debut majors this year, reflecting the frenzy around the technology and academia’s urgent ambition to be seen as essential in the A.I. age.
Article here (gift link):
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/us/ai-college-degrees.html?unlocked_article_code=1.pFA.rtBe.pNgRKwZ6uQ9J&smid=url-share
AI school tracker here, maintained by Northeastern U’s Center for Inclusive Computing:
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Are such majors mostly marketing to potential students, because previously, students interested in AI would study CS and include AI courses among their in-major electives?
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I don’t think it’s marketing. The AI major at Purdue is still very CS heavy but has philosophy, psychology, and ethics requirements.
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A little bit of marketing and also not always, it depends on school IMO, but I agree, the well thought out ones are NOT just marketing..some are heaving on “what is intelligence” RIT’s AI major has at least 2 psych courses too, (and I think some ethics and security too, I think)
Also, they are usually more “applied” AI than anything like pure CS or creating AI IME…but also a lot more than prompt engineering….they are all figuring it out and I think titles of these degrees will evolve
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