AI has students rethink their majors

School will soon be back in session, and AI is playing a growing role in what college and university students choose to study. New polling from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation finds that 42% of bachelor’s degree students have reconsidered their major because of how AI will affect the value of their degree. With graduates entering a sluggish “low-hire, low-fire” job market, students are increasingly focused on how to stand out. And some are acting on those concerns: 16% of college students say AI has already prompted them to change their program of study.

But the AI rethink isn’t evenly distributed. Students in technology and vocational programs are the most likely to reconsider their course of study. For technology students, that trend reflects how AI is used in the workforce: Gallup has found that workers in technology-related fields are adopting AI at particularly high rates. That presents something of a paradox for tech students: they want to master the technology but also worry it could perform some of their jobs.

Vocational students face a different calculation. These programs prepare students for specific trades and other hands-on careers that many young peopleconsider relatively “AI-proof.” Enrollment in programs for welding, construction, and mechanical work has risen in recent years, even as interest in computer science has declined.

Students in healthcare and the natural sciences were the least likely to rethink their plans. Just 9% said AI had made them consider changing their major “a great deal,” while 27% of natural science students and 25% of healthcare students said AI had made them consider it “a fair amount.” For healthcare students in particular, the logic may be straightforward: AI can assist with the work, but much of the job still requires hands-on skills and human care that are difficult to replace.