College Students Adapt Majors in Response to AI's Impact on Job Market

U.S. are reconsidering their majors due to the rise of artificial intelligence, with many shifting away from fields where skills could be automated. Josephine Timperman, a 20-year-old student at Miami University in Ohio, arrived at college two years ago planning to major in business analytics.

She switched to marketing a few weeks ago, citing fears that AI would take entry-level jobs. Timperman is keeping analytics as a minor and plans to pursue a one-year master’s program in analytics. “Everyone has a fear that entry-level jobs will be taken by AI,” she said.

Her new focus aims to build critical thinking and interpersonal skills, areas where she believes humans maintain an edge over AI. “You don’t just want to be able to code.

About 70% of college students see AI as a threat to their job prospects, according to a 2025 poll by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School. S. workers are increasingly concerned about being replaced by new technologies.

A recent Quinnipiac poll found the vast majority of Americans believe it’s “very” or “somewhat” important for college and university students to be taught how to use AI. Gallup Workforce polling finds AI is getting adopted in technology-related fields at higher rates. Gallup found students studying health care and natural sciences may be less impacted by AI overhauls.

A recent Gallup poll of Generation Z youth and adults, between the ages of 14 and 29, found increasing skepticism and concerns about AI. Half of Gen Z adults use AI at least “weekly,” according to a recent Gallup poll. About half — 48% — of Gen Z workers say the risks of AI in the workforce outweigh the possible benefits, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Leaders of several prominent universities gathered for a panel discussion on the future of higher education at Stanford University last month. The discussion addressed the AI revolution transforming how students learn and forcing educators to rethink pedagogy.

“We need to think really hard about what students need to learn to be successful in the job market in 10, 20, 30 years,” said Brown University President Christina Paxson.

“And none of us know. We don’t know the answer to that,” Paxson said. “I think it’s communication, it’s critical thought. ” Ben Aybar, a 22-year-old computer science major, graduated last spring from the University of Chicago.

He applied for about 50 jobs, mostly in software engineering, without getting a single interview. Aybar pivoted to a master’s degree in computer science and has found part-time work doing AI consulting for companies. “People who know how to use AI will be very valuable,” Aybar said.

He sees new jobs emerging that require AI skills, particularly for those who can explain complexities in layman's terms. ” At the University of Virginia, data science major Ava Lawless is questioning her major's viability amid gloomy job reports. “It makes me feel a bit hopeless for the future,” Lawless said.

” She is considering switching to studio art, her minor. “We see students all the time change majors. That’s not new or different. But it’s usually for a ton of different reasons,” said Courtney Brown, a vice president at Lumina, an education nonprofit.

” Brown noted students are navigating this uncertainty without clear guidance from advisers, professors or parents. “Students are having to navigate this on their own, without a GPS,” Brown said. The uncertainty appears most concentrated among those pursuing degrees in technology and vocational areas, where students feel a need to develop AI expertise but fear replacement by it.

@ABC reported these developments based on interviews and polling data.