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Students reconsider majors, career paths and industries due to AI, CNBC survey finds

A CNBC/SurveyMonkey survey finds nearly a third of U.S. students have changed or considered changing target industry due to AI, with many rethinking majors and skills.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-02 04:54

Among enrolled respondents, 31% said they had changed or considered changing their target industry. For students who are not employed, that figure rose to 39%. The survey also found that 45% had changed or reconsidered the skills they are developing, 34% the jobs they are applying for and 35% the companies they hope to join. Nearly 40% of enrolled students had considered changing their major, field of study or coursework, a share that climbed to 44% among non-employed students.

The findings echo an April report from Gallup and Lumina Foundation, which found that about 42% of bachelor's degree students and about 56% of associate degree students had given at least a fair amount of consideration to changing their majors because of AI concerns. That report was based on a survey of 3,801 U.S. students conducted in October 2025.

Stephanie Park, a 20-year-old sophomore at a small liberal arts college in the Northeast, told CNBC Make It that AI has made her wonder what careers in medicine and research will look like by the time she finishes training. She worries that as more people confide in AI chatbots for health advice, human connection in medicine may become less of a priority.

Career and education experts offered mixed advice. Allison Shrivastava, education and labor market economist at Niche, said it is natural for students to be concerned, but she fears students are reacting before all the information about AI's impact on careers is available. Jessica Roffe, a career coach and founder of Career Beginnings, noted that the unemployment rate for computer science graduates rose to 7% as of 2024 and that large tech companies have slowed on-campus recruiting. But she said computer science still has value across industries, and students should focus on building critical thinking, problem-solving, curiosity and skepticism, especially for roles that involve AI.

Shrivastava said she hopes students will study what genuinely interests them rather than chase occupations they think will offer job security. "You don't have to have it all figured out," she said. "You should work hard and study what you're interested in, what you're good at, and keep those things in consideration."