How to read this

"Leading in AI" is genuinely multi-dimensional, and the popular AI rankings lean on reputation surveys. We avoid those and use only objective, primary-source signals — shown as separate lenses so you can weigh what matters to you: degrees conferred (federal IPEDS), AI research output (OpenAlex publications), and whether a school hosts a federal NSF AI Institute. The dedicated Artificial Intelligence degree label is still young in its current form, and standalone AI degrees remain rare — today it's mostly a graduate credential, with much AI training still happening inside computer science, data science, engineering, and information programs.

47
colleges confer a dedicated AI degree
90%
of AI degrees are graduate — undergrad AI is still rare
15
offer an undergraduate AI major (104 grads)
1,268
4-year colleges graduating computing talent
Most AI degrees
Dedicated AI program (CIP 11.0102)
  1. Carnegie Mellon University · 238
  2. University of Pennsylvania · 98
  3. University of North Texas · 76
  4. Northeastern University · 55
  5. San Jose State University · 52
  6. University of Washington-Seattle Campus · 48
  7. University of Southern California · 45
  8. Illinois Institute of Technology · 45
  9. Northwestern University · 41
  10. University of San Diego · 35
Biggest computing pipeline
AI + CS + data science + info
  1. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus · 3,982
  2. University of Maryland Global Campus · 2,932
  3. Southern New Hampshire University · 2,089
  4. The University of Texas at Dallas · 2,074
  5. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor · 1,990
  6. Columbia University in the City of New York · 1,939
  7. University of Southern California · 1,921
  8. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · 1,914
  9. Arizona State University Campus Immersion · 1,679
  10. New York University · 1,608
Most computing-focused
Share of all degrees (500+ base)
  1. Maharishi International University · 47.8%
  2. Trine University-Regional/Non-Traditional Campuses · 46.2%
  3. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus · 35.0%
  4. Dakota State University · 34.6%
  5. University of Central Missouri · 34.5%
  6. Eastern University · 33.7%
  7. Southern Arkansas University Main Campus · 28.6%
  8. New England College · 28.5%
  9. New Jersey Institute of Technology · 26.6%
  10. Stevens Institute of Technology · 26.5%
AI research powerhouses
AI publications since 2020 — a different lens than teaching
  1. Stanford University · 17,351
  2. Harvard University · 15,145
  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology · 13,460
  4. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor · 13,195
  5. Carnegie Mellon University · 12,662
  6. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus · 12,554
  7. University of California-Berkeley · 11,786
  8. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · 11,543
  9. University of Washington-Seattle Campus · 11,524
  10. Johns Hopkins University · 11,372
  11. Purdue University-Main Campus · 10,852
  12. New York University · 10,064

Research output is where the cutting-edge work and graduate pathways are — not a measure of undergraduate teaching quality.

Hosts a federal NSF AI Institute
22 universities · ~$500M federal investment
Carnegie Mellon University Columbia University in the City of New York Duke University Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Georgia State University Iowa State University Massachusetts Institute of Technology North Carolina State University at Raleigh Northwestern University Ohio State University-Main Campus The University of Texas at Austin University at Buffalo University of California-Davis University of California-San Diego University of California-Santa Barbara University of Colorado Boulder University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University of Maryland-College Park University of Minnesota-Twin Cities University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus University of Washington-Seattle Campus Washington State University

NSF's National AI Research Institutes — a federal vote of confidence in a university's AI program.

For families choosing an undergrad

The first-movers in an undergraduate AI major

Only 15 four-year colleges granted a bachelor's degree specifically in Artificial Intelligence in 2023. If a dedicated undergrad AI major matters to you, this is the field today (most other strong programs teach AI inside their Computer Science major):

Carnegie Mellon University 32 grads Full Sail University 19 grads Concordia University-Wisconsin 16 grads University of Advancing Technology 10 grads Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus 7 grads Illinois Institute of Technology 5 grads DigiPen Institute of Technology 3 grads Indiana University-Bloomington 2 grads Drake University 2 grads Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2 grads SUNY College at Plattsburgh 2 grads Buena Vista University 1 grad University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth 1 grad Long Island University 1 grad Dakota State University 1 grad

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