U.S. colleges expand AI courses to non-tech majors as computer science enrollment declines

As entry-level software developer hiring cools and computer science enrollment drops over 8% nationwide, U.S. colleges are rapidly pivoting. Institutions like Purdue, Ohio State, and Harvard are establishing AI literacy requirements, while schools like VCU and Northwestern launch AI minors and majors tailored for non-tech students. Driven by employer demand, students from music, psychology, and biology are flooding these courses to secure a competitive edge in an AI-altered job market.

AI courses for non-tech majors

• ▪Virginia Commonwealth University has launched an artificial intelligence minor targeting students outside of computer science
• ▪Eastern Mennonite University assistant music professor Benjamin Guerrero is co-teaching a class combining music, art, theater, digital media, math, computer science, and electrical engineering students
• ▪Northwestern University is adding an artificial intelligence major and streamlining prerequisites to make artificial intelligence and machine learning classes more accessible to non-majors

Computer science enrollment decline

• ▪The decline in computer science enrollment coincided with a drop in job postings and cooled hiring for entry-level software developers
• ▪Enrollment in computer and information sciences at four-year institutions fell more than 8% in the spring of 2026 compared to the spring of 2025

AI literacy graduation requirements

• ▪Harvard University is teaching how large language models work and exploring copyright and disinformation in freshman writing classes
• ▪Ohio State University has established an artificial intelligence fluency requirement that includes hands-on workshops
• ▪Purdue University has instituted a new artificial intelligence graduation requirement

Student career preparation motivations

• ▪Students from non-technical majors are pursuing artificial intelligence skills to stand out to potential employers who increasingly ask about artificial intelligence capabilities
• ▪Faith Maeba, a 21-year-old psychology major at Virginia Commonwealth University, is pursuing an artificial intelligence minor to gain an edge in graduate school and the workplace

Faculty hiring institutional changes

• ▪Northwestern University computer science chair Samir Khuller is attempting to hire three additional computer science professors to handle the increased demand from non-majors
• ▪Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music has introduced a certificate program in music and artificial intelligence

Rapid curriculum approval processes

• ▪Virginia Commonwealth University has reduced its course design and approval timeline from 18 months to a matter of months or weeks for artificial intelligence programs
• ▪Johnson County Community College in Kansas offered a non-credit 'vibe-coding' class to quickly teach non-technical students to build software using artificial intelligence