College students are beginning to eschew AI-exposed majors in favor of fields associated with stronger job growth, according to an analysis from Goldman Sachs.<\/p>\n
With employment among young software developers dropping fast<\/a> and the jobless rate for recent grads<\/a> hovering well above pre-pandemic norms, students are pulling back from once-hot majors like computer and information sciences and moving instead toward fast-growing fields like healthcare, Goldman Sachs found.<\/p>\n Enrollment grew about 3% on average in “majors linked to occupations with low AI displacement risk and strong recent job growth, most notably in healthcare and engineering,” Goldman Sachs economist Pierfrancesco Mei wrote in the analysis. Meanwhile, computer science and programming enrollment each fell more than 10% in the 2025-2026 academic year compared to the year prior.<\/p>\n “Our findings are consistent with prior academic research showing that college major choices respond to shifts in labor demand, with students moving toward fields tied to jobs that saw stronger recent employment and wage growth,” Mei said, also noting this trend seems to be occurring more quickly in the AI era.<\/p>\n Students are responding to real job market risks. Using American Community Survey data to estimate the occupations where recent graduates across more than 180 majors landed, the Goldman Sachs analysis found that computer science and statistics majors drifted toward jobs exposed to AI, while health and education majors landed in jobs considered safer from displacement, like nursing and pharmacy work. Healthcare also drove much of last year’s job growth.<\/p>\n The Goldman Sachs analysis also tracks with what some student newspapers have reported. The State Press at Arizona State University noted<\/a> that enrollment in bachelor-level computer science degrees dropped about 14% between fall 2024 and fall 2025, and software engineering slipped more than 19%. Student Life at Washington University in St. Louis similarly reported<\/a> that the share of students majoring in computer science fell by 16% in the past two years.<\/p>\n Emma Ockerman<\/a> is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n