This big university system is embracing AI. Students and faculty aren't all on board

California State University leaders aim to make the CSU the first artificial intelligence-powered institution of its kind. The CSU entered a $17 million no-bid contract with OpenAI to provide ChatGPT Edu for educational use. The CSU renewed the agreement for $13 million per year for the next three years. CSU leadership described the partnership as unique in scale and as a branding opportunity, while also claiming thoughtful vendor selection aligned with innovation, accessibility, and academic excellence. Despite these goals, a survey found majorities of students and faculty skeptical about AI benefits in education. Concerns included job security, creativity, and environmental impacts, even as other colleges pursued similar AI deals.

"Leaders of the California State University system, the CSU, want it to become the nation's first artificial intelligence-powered institution of its kind. It entered into a $17 million no-bid contract with OpenAI last year to provide students, faculty and staff with a new resource: ChatGPT Edu a version of the popular generative AI chatbot intended for use by educational institutions. The system recently renewed that contract for another $13 million a year for the next three years."

""No other university system in the U.S. or internationally is doing anything like this, not at this scale," said Mildred Garcia, the CSU's chancellor, during a February 2025 press conference announcing the partnership. But in a recent survey, majorities of its students and faculty said they were skeptical of the benefits of AI for education, and they worry about AI's impacts on job security, creativity and the environment."

"In December 2024, university leaders flagged a potential partnership with OpenAI as "a huge branding opp[ortunity]," according to an internal CSU planning document obtained by NPR. Ed Clark, chief information officer for the CSU's office of the chancellor, told NPR in an email that "the planning document demonstrates the extent to which the CSU thoughtfully approached selecting a vendor that could support our commitment to innovation, accessibility and academic excellence.""

"Clark said the system chose to partner with OpenAI because they offered "the"

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