Congress Weighs How Colleges Should Handle AI 

A House subcommittee took up the question at a recent hearing, according to a June 9 report from Route Fifty. Members of the House Education and Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development heard from university leaders and education experts about how schools should respond to a technology that is reshaping teaching and learning in real time.

Supporters told the panel that AI can help colleges accomplish a wide range of tasks, Route Fifty reported. They urged schools to embrace the technology and set policies for its responsible use. Even the optimists flagged serious obstacles, however. The technology makes academic cheating easier, and it could widen the divide between wealthy schools and those with fewer resources.

Rep. Burgess Owens, the Utah Republican who chairs the subcommittee, called for a balanced approach.

WHAT’S NEXT IN TECHREG

“The right response [to AI] is neither knee-jerk prohibition, nor careless adoption,” Owens said in his opening statement, per Route Fifty. “It is thoughtful leadership, grounded in a commitment to student success. Some institutions are already demonstrating what that looks like with AI literacy initiatives, faculty development programs, and partnerships with employers designed around evolving workforce needs.”

Recent research backs up the sense of uncertainty on campus. Route Fifty noted that a national Gallup poll and a statewide survey for California State University both found widespread AI use in higher education. Many respondents in both surveys said they had little clear direction on how to use the tools safely and responsibly.

Read more: Musicians Union Takes Warner and Universal to Court Over AI Training Rights

Bridget Burns, CEO of the University Innovation Alliance, a consortium of 19 public research universities, told the panel that schools are largely figuring things out in isolation. Thousands of conversations about legal reviews, procurement and classroom experimentation are happening across higher education, she said in written testimony, but there are few ways for institutions to share what they learn. She also warned that schools with deep pockets will move faster on AI than those without, and that a student’s access to responsible AI adoption should not depend on where they happen to enroll.

Democrats on the panel pushed for a stronger federal role. Rep. Alma Adams of North Carolina, the subcommittee’s ranking member, said current federal AI policy is moving in the wrong direction. She pointed to job cuts at the Department of Education and called for clear accountability standards covering transparency, data protection, auditing and oversight of AI systems used on campus.

Not everyone at the hearing believed AI will deliver on its biggest promises. Michael Horn, an adjunct professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, compared colleges to early factories that swapped steam engines for electric motors but saw little gain because they kept the same processes. Real progress, he argued, will require schools to redesign how they teach and test, including tougher assignments that AI alone cannot pass.

Lawmakers from both parties agreed that substantial work lies ahead, and that getting AI right in higher education will help the United States stay globally competitive. Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, urged colleagues to look forward rather than back and to prepare students for the jobs that will actually exist.

The bigger question raised at the hearing remains open. Colleges can keep navigating AI campus by campus, or Congress can give them a coordinated national playbook. For now, the campuses are on their own.