As AI upends entry-level job market, California higher ed must adapt now
Zack Justus and Nik Janos
February 27, 2026
California’s public universities have weathered past economic shocks, from the dot-com bust to the Great Recession, by adapting what they teach and how they prepare students for work and civic life.
That capacity for adaptation is being tested again by the intersection of artificial intelligence and a new federal earnings test for higher education programs. The specifics are opaque, but the broader trajectory is crystal clear — many California academic departments will be at risk in the coming years unless we act quickly with an emphasis on technology and career placement.
Many of our colleagues recoil at the thought of a university degree as vocational training. It does not have to be only that, but a focus on career placement and earnings has to be part of what we are doing in all majors.
AI is putting enormous pressure on new college graduates, with unemployment and underemployment rates rising and early-career opportunities falling. Entry-level jobs, long the staple of new graduates, are being supplanted by more senior, experienced employees with access to powerful AI tools. There were murmurs of this during spring 2025, but each passing report and anecdote clarifies how AI is shaping early-career job-seeking. Recent layoffs at Block were justified in relation to AI, and while this may be a cover-story for cost savings, in many ways this does not matter since the actual job-loss is what counts.
