Purdue makes 'AI working competency' a graduation requirement

Purdue University last week said it will require incoming undergraduate students to meet an "AI working competency" requirement in order to graduate.

The yet-to-be-defined requirement, part of a broader AI strategy, will apply to freshmen, starting in the fall of 2026, at the university's main campus in Indianapolis and West Lafayette, Indiana.

"The reach and pace of AI's impact to society, including many dimensions of higher education, means that we at Purdue must lean in and lean forward and do so across different functions at the university," said Purdue President Mung Chiang in a statement.

From the faculty perspective, the goal is to treat AI as an enhancement to education

At a university senate meeting last month, Chiang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, framed the new requirement as meeting the school's responsibility to ensure that graduates have ample employment opportunities.

"As you may have read ...