College Students Shift Majors Amid AI Disruption, Goldman Sachs Analysis Reveals
College students are significantly altering their academic choices in response to the perceived impact of artificial intelligence on the job market. A recent analysis by Goldman Sachs for the 2025–26 academic year shows enrollment declines of over 10% in computer science and computer programming majors, while healthcare and engineering fields saw an average increase of approximately 3%. This represents the first statistically significant evidence of students realigning their education to mitigate AI's disruption to entry-level white-collar jobs, a trend that began in the 2024–25 academic year and may be unfolding faster than previous technological transitions.
College students are making distinct changes to their chosen fields of study, influenced by concerns about artificial intelligence's impact on future employment opportunities. Data analyzed by Goldman Sachs indicates a measurable shift in academic enrollment patterns.
For the 2025–26 academic year, enrollment in computer science and computer programming majors each dropped by more than 10%. Conversely, healthcare and engineering majors experienced an average increase of about 3%. This trend marks the initial statistically significant evidence of students adjusting their academic paths due to AI's potential to disrupt entry-level white-collar professions. The shift started in the 2024–25 academic year, and economists at Goldman Sachs suggest it may be occurring more rapidly than past technological transitions.
The Goldman Sachs analysis utilized a rigorous methodology, mapping where recent graduates from over 180 majors were employed between 2022 and 2024, using American Community Survey data. Researchers then applied AI automation risk scores across more than 300 job categories to create a major-level displacement risk index. Majors such as management and quantitative methods, computer science, and statistics and decision sciences were identified as carrying the highest displacement risk. Fields related to professional and business services, including consulting, finance, and legal professions, also showed elevated risk.
In contrast, majors feeding into pharmacy, nursing, and education-related fields ranked among the safest from AI-driven disruption. The broader labor market context supports these anxieties, with the unemployment rate for recent college graduates diverging sharply upward from the general workforce average since 2024. Goldman Sachs estimates that AI is currently eliminating approximately 11,000 U.S. jobs per month, with Generation Z disproportionately affected.
According to Goldman economist Pierfrancesco Mei, these findings align with academic research on the relationship between major choices and shifting labor demand. Students are observed moving towards fields associated with stronger recent employment and wage growth, with the current adjustment potentially accelerating due to the heightened public awareness of AI disruption.
(Source: Fortune)
