Northwestern Engineering Announces New AI Major

UndergraduateNorthwestern Engineering Announces New AI MajorThe AI major is the first offering of McCormick’s new bachelor of science in engineering degreeMar 9, 2026Michelle MohneyStarting this fall, undergraduate students at Northwestern University will have the option to major in AI, thanks to a new academic offering announced today. The major, administered by Northwestern Engineering’s Department of Computer Science, will prepare students to lead in a rapidly evolving field. Artificial intelligence now underpins innovation across industry, drives discovery at the frontiers of research, and shapes how technology affects people and communities. Graduates with AI expertise are in high demand, whether in tech companies and startups or healthcare, government, nonprofits, and graduate programs. As organizations race to build smarter systems, researchers continue to expand what machines can learn, create, do, and decide. “We aim to prepare students for the future of a quickly changing and expanding field,” said Sara Owsley Sood, Chookaszian Family Teaching Professor of Instruction and associate chair for undergraduate education in the McCormick School of Engineering. “The AI industry demands specific technical skills that differ from the core CS curriculum, drawing from fundamentals in sub-fields including computer vision, knowledge representation and reasoning, natural language processing, machine learning, and robotics. This new major will span the breadth of AI, while also...