US college computer and information science programs experienced sharp enrollment declines this fall: undergraduate enrollment fell by more than 12%, and graduate enrollment by more than 10%. The downturn extends a reversal that began last year, after years of growth. In two years, undergraduate computer science enrollment has dropped 18.4% and graduate enrollment 27.1%. The trend coincides with AI’s reshaping of employment prospects: companies are eliminating many entry-level coding jobs, and federal projections identify computer and mathematics occupations as especially exposed to AI. The scale of the losses stands out for a field that had been among higher education’s fastest-growing areas.
The declines come amid a broader slowdown in college enrollment. Undergraduate headcount rose just 0.6% nationwide, compared with 2.4% the previous fall, while graduate enrollment fell 1.6%, including a 3.7% decline in master’s programs. Early figures exclude international students, whose enrollment may also be weakening: new foreign-student enrollment fell 17% in fall 2025, and applications from abroad dropped about 10% this year, the steepest fall in at least a decade. Community colleges were an exception, with undergraduate enrollment up 1.2%. Students’ interest in more affordable options and pathways outside traditional universities may help explain their growth.
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China’s STAR 50 technology index has fallen 40% since June, wiping trillions from the country’s stock markets as investor anxiety grows over AI. Weak profits and Western threats are raising doubts about the sustainability of Beijing’s push to compete with the US for AI dominance. (theguardian.com)
Software engineer and consultant Eric Elliott says his mentoring and consulting business collapsed as generative AI reshaped demand, leaving him homeless despite decades of experience and AI expertise. He argues that learning AI alone cannot protect workers from displacement and warns of broader economic fallout. (medium.com)
A Brazilian labor court fined two law firms about $16,000 after lawyers hid instructions in a filing to manipulate an AI system reviewing the case. The ruling treated the prompt injection as a breach of legal duties of good faith and fair dealing. (jetstream.security)
The spread of corporate AI is pushing more tech workers to reconsider their long-standing resistance to unions. They are turning to collective bargaining to challenge how companies deploy AI and protect workers’ interests. (theguardian.com)
Ed Zitron’s predictions were wrong in 25 of 27 cases reviewed by the author. The proposed “Inverse Zitron” strategy is to invest against his calls. (chalmovsky.com)
More capable AI models can now build and test production features from prompts, even through mobile tools. Software engineers will increasingly focus on defining tasks, reviewing code, and validating results as AI writes more of it. (newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com)
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