Massachusetts colleges are moving fast to rework their degree offerings around artificial intelligence, with Suffolk University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and Endicott College all rolling out new AI-infused majors, minors or co-majors over the next year. The push is landing unevenly on campus: at Suffolk, a student-launched petition opposing the school's new curriculum plan has already gathered more than 1,200 signatures.
According to The Boston Globe, Suffolk will introduce a co-major in applied AI in 2027, layering it on top of most of the university's existing undergraduate programs rather than replacing any of them. Andrew Perlman, Suffolk's vice president for academic innovation, described the co-major as an optional path that is not meant for everyone. The program requires core courses in AI ethics, policy and regulation, and it is intended to teach students how AI will apply specifically to their own field of interest.
The Suffolk plan has already sparked friction. A Suffolk student launched an online petition opposing the school's curriculum changes, and it accumulated more than 1,200 signatures within two days, per the same Globe report. The petition's organizers argue the university shouldn't be funding new AI curricula while also making campus budget cuts elsewhere, a tension the research suggests is at the heart of the pushback rather than simple skepticism of AI itself, according to the Change.org petition page.
Wentworth and Endicott Chart Their Own AI Tracks
Wentworth Institute of Technology will offer its own degree in applied AI, first announced in September 2025 through its School of Computing & Data Science, according to Wentworth Institute of Technology. The program includes core classes in math, programming, ethics and responsible use of AI, and it offers specializations in life sciences, architecture and cybersecurity, alongside domains in business management and construction management. Mike Farmer, dean of Wentworth's School of Computing and Data Science, oversees the program as it prepares to launch this fall.
Down the road in Beverly, Endicott College is introducing its own degree in AI implementation, set to begin in 2027. Unlike Wentworth's more technical build, the Globe reports that Endicott's version is aimed at training product managers who can help companies select and use AI tools, complete with a required internship and coursework emphasizing critical thinking, ethical reasoning and effective communication. Endicott business professor Allan Glass said the degree should focus on talent rather than technology, telling the Globe that graduates need to become good managers who understand how data informs decisions and what AI can actually do.
Northeastern Goes Broad, MIT Set the Early Template
Northeastern University is taking arguably the widest swing, planning to introduce two dozen interdisciplinary majors that combine AI with fields including business, biochemistry, neuroscience, chemical engineering and philosophy. The Globe reports the university is also working to integrate AI into most of its undergraduate classroom experiences and already offers a bachelor's of science in AI focused on design, development and application. Last year, 1,500 Northeastern undergraduates completed an AI co-op, working with companies including Amazon Robotics and Wayfair.
Northeastern computer science student Sam Iannone plans to add a minor in interdisciplinary AI after completing two co-ops at Boston-based fitness tech company Whoop and an internship at Google DeepMind, according to the Globe's reporting. At Whoop, Iannone used AI tools to automate a morning inventory-management report. Ken Henderson, quoted in the same report, said students should aim to become “AI orchestrators” rather than passive users, arguing that people with AI skills are replacing jobs rather than AI replacing people outright.
MIT set an early template for this wave of programs when its Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, working with the Schwarzman College of Computing, launched the Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making major in 2022, combining computing, statistics, operations research and brain and cognitive sciences, according to the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. It has since become MIT's second-most-popular program. Charles Fadel, founder of the Boston-based Center for Curriculum Redesign, said AI fluency is useful across disciplines, a view echoed across the new programs at Suffolk, Wentworth, Endicott and Northeastern.
A National Scramble, With Mixed Payoffs
The number of schools nationally offering AI degrees jumped from four in 2020 to 79 institutions, and more than 100 schools now offer AI minors or concentrations, per the Globe's data. That expansion tracks with a shrinking entry-level job market: GBH News reported in October 2025 that regional job postings in traditional entry-level tech roles, including software development, coding and social media management, are shrinking due to AI automation, pressuring New England colleges to redesign degrees around applied AI skills.
Nationally, U.S. job listings citing artificial intelligence skills surged more than 120 percent in 2024 and grew another 56 percent in early 2025, according to workforce tracking data reported by Wentworth. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 projects AI and automation will displace 92 million jobs globally by 2030 while creating 170 million new roles, a net gain of 78 million jobs worldwide, according to the World Economic Forum. Still, an MIT study of 300 organizations found that 95 percent of those introducing new AI tools did not see a return on investment, according to the Globe's report, a caution that dovetails with Bryan Cain's comment that AI managers should be trained to manage AI rather than compete with it.
Student anxiety about AI's effect on careers is showing up in national survey data as well. A Lumina Foundation-Gallup survey of nearly 4,000 college students, published in April 2026, found that 57 percent of U.S. undergraduates use AI tools daily or weekly in coursework even though 53 percent say their institution discourages or prohibits it, per Gallup. A related Lumina-Gallup study published in May 2026 found that 47 percent of enrolled students have considered changing their major over AI automation concerns, with technology majors reporting the highest reconsideration rate at 70 percent, according to Forbes.
Curriculum Changes Collide With Cost Pressures
The AI degree push is unfolding alongside separate, contentious changes to Massachusetts degree structures. In June 2026, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approved pilot proposals for Suffolk and Merrimack College to offer shortened bachelor's degrees requiring under 120 credits, a move that drew objections from the Massachusetts Teachers Association over concerns that condensed pathways sacrifice capstones and double majors. For Suffolk students already frustrated by the AI co-major's rollout amid campus budget cuts, the credit-shortening pilot adds another layer to debates over what a degree at the university should actually guarantee.
Taken together, the moves at Suffolk, Wentworth, Endicott and Northeastern reflect a broader effort by Boston-area colleges to keep pace with a job market that is being reshaped in real time. Whether that translates into meaningfully better job prospects for graduates, or simply new tuition-funded coursework layered onto existing majors, remains an open question that students, faculty and administrators are still fighting over on campus.
