At colleges, the AI boom means everyone wants to dabble in computer science
The Associated Press · Heather Hollingsworth · Aug 3, 2026 · abridged for classroom use
- With no background in coding, Faith Maeba, a psychology
- major, was reluctant when her mother first suggested she
- enroll in classes on artificial intelligence.
- But the senior at Virginia Commonwealth University began
- to see it differently as she looked into graduate psychology
- programs that explore human behavior in the workplace,
- which is quickly being upended by machine learning.
- Maeba, 21, is now pursuing a minor in AI.
- “It’s giving me an edge and standing out,” she said.
- Hiring has cooled for entry-level software developers —
- work increasingly done by AI agents — and college
- enrollment in computer and information science programs
- has been declining. Yet at campuses across the country,
- many professors are finding themselves busier than ever
- teaching students from a range of majors about AI.
- “We have to democratize it,” said Peter Stone, the chair
- of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin.
- “In the same way that everybody needs some degree of
- math, reading and writing, I think everybody needs a degree
- of AI literacy,” he said.
- Nationwide, enrollment in computer and information
- sciences continued falling this spring, down more than 8%
- at four-year institutions from the spring of 2025, according
- to the latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse
- Research Center, a dip that came as job postings for
- software developers dropped.
- Interest in attaining at least a bare-bones understanding
- in computer science — and particularly AI-enhanced
- coding — has exploded across different majors. Music
- students, for instance, are discovering tools that can easily
- do tasks such as editing or generating drum tracks.
- At Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia,
- assistant music professor Benjamin Guerrero is co-teaching
- a class next year with a computer scientist. “In my mind,
- AI is no more disruptive than the record player, the radio,
- the metronome, the synthesizer or the computer,” said
- Guerrero.
- Even before this latest surge in interest, STEM majors
- often took computer science classes to learn how to code
- for data-heavy research. But the learning curve was steep
- until new AI tools came along, said Murtaza Ali, a doctoral
- candidate at the University of Washington whose research
- focuses on computer science education.
- Yet, he said, AI also is stirring anxiety. The concern, he
- said, is that even if the AI is just being used to write code,
- it’s going to encroach so much that eventually some
- college graduates won’t understand the basic concepts
- in their field.
- “When you ask the AI to do it for you, on the surface it
- might just seem it is writing the code,” he said. “But
- under the hood, it’s actually also doing the understanding
- of the task for you.”
- Community colleges that want to offer non-credit classes
- are able to move especially fast. One in suburban Kansas
- City recently offered a non-credit “vibe-coding” class
- to teach nontechies to create working software.
- “What AI does is shrink that distance between a complete
- novice and an expert,” said Grant Carlson, program
- coordinator for workforce development and continuing
- education at Johnson County Community College.
- In courses for VCU’s AI minor, Althea Pappas said she’s
- exploring AI not to use in her career, but to help her
- answer philosophical questions. “What happens when we
- create actual life, or how do we even make that
- distinction?” asked Pappas, a music composition major
- entering her sophomore year.
- Meanwhile, what fascinates aspiring neurologist Makenzie
- Stovall is the idea that AI is trying to emulate the brain
- — an organ whose inner workings continue to leave
- researchers dumbfounded.
- “If I am going to try to make people’s brain the best it
- can be, well, then,” the 20-year-old VCU biology major
- asked, “why not study AI?”
Q1 · Main Idea
the passage
What is the article mainly about?
- AAI is replacing computer science majors at colleges.
- BStudents from many majors are pursuing AI knowledge, even as CS enrollment falls.
- CAll college graduates are required to learn AI.
- DMusic students should not use AI tools.
Q2 · Detail
lines 1–8
Faith Maeba, the student who opens the article, is:
- Aa computer science major.
- Ba psychology major pursuing a minor in AI.
- Ca music composition major.
- Dan aspiring neurologist.
Q3 · Detail
lines 21–26
According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, spring enrollment in computer and information sciences at four-year institutions was:
- Aup more than 8% from spring 2025.
- Bup more than 8% from spring 2020.
- Cdown more than 8% from spring 2025.
- Ddown more than 8% from spring 2020.
Q4 · Vocabulary in Context
line 16
In line 16, Peter Stone says, “We have to democratize it.” What is Stone arguing that colleges should do with AI?
- ALet students vote on which AI tools are allowed.
- BReserve AI training for computer science majors only.
- CMake AI literacy accessible to every student, not just CS majors.
- DTeach only the ethical uses of AI.
Q5 · Detail
lines 34–36
In the passage, Benjamin Guerrero compares AI to:
- Athe calculator and the smartphone.
- Bthe internet and the search engine.
- Cthe record player, the radio, the metronome, the synthesizer, or the computer.
- Dthe printing press and the typewriter.
Q6 · Inference
lines 49–52, 57–60
The article includes both Grant Carlson and Murtaza Ali on the subject of AI and learning. What does putting them next to each other suggest?
- ACarlson and Ali agree that AI shrinks the gap between novice and expert.
- BCarlson thinks AI helps beginners; Ali worries it does the thinking for them.
- CBoth experts believe AI ruins learning.
- DBoth experts work at the same institution.
Q7 · Function
lines 21–26
What job does the paragraph about the 8% enrollment decline do in the article?
- AIt explains why community colleges move faster than four-year schools.
- BIt gives the evidence behind the surprise the article is setting up: enrollment is falling while AI interest is booming.
- CIt shows that Faith Maeba made the wrong choice pursuing an AI minor.
- DIt compares four-year and two-year college enrollment numbers.
Q8 · Comparison
lines 1–8, 61–73
Faith Maeba, Althea Pappas, and Makenzie Stovall are all studying AI, but for different reasons. Which best captures the difference between Maeba and Pappas?
- AMaeba wants a career edge; Pappas wants to answer philosophical questions.
- BMaeba is a graduate student; Pappas is an undergraduate.
- CMaeba studies AI for her career; Pappas refuses to use AI in her career.
- DMaeba is a computer science major; Pappas is a music major.
Q9 · Constructed Response
lines 49–52, 57–60
Grant Carlson and Murtaza Ali disagree about what AI does to learning. Whose position do you find more convincing, and why? Cite at least one specific line from the passage to support your answer.
Write in your Lab Notebook. 3–5 sentences. Name the person you side with, quote or paraphrase at least one line, and explain what convinced you.