While some campuses are still struggling to meet the moment of generative AI, several community colleges are collaborating with regional employers to ensure their students won’t be left behind by a disrupted workforce.
The CCA AI Readiness Consortium, spearheaded by Complete College America and experiential learning software Riipen, is helping five open-access institutions embed industry-informed AI standards into their academic curriculum. Atlanta Metropolitan State College, City Colleges of Chicago, City University of New York, Pikes Peak College in Colorado and Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio are participating in the program funded by the Axim Collaborative—the MIT-Harvard tech enterprise behind Open edX.
“If universities and colleges are prepared and have resources to meet this dramatic change, then their graduates will be more successful in this new world,” says Charles Ansell, vice president for research, policy and advocacy at Complete College America. “But it requires nimble, curricular introduction and change at both the programmatic and course level, and it involves having employer integration early.”
Five faculty members and two administrators at each institution are currently reviewing what emerging competencies must anchor the new academic curriculum. Riipen will then connect each institution with relevant employers to embed coursework with real-world examples of how AI is being used in the workforce.
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“We’re excited to see how this specifically works for our students who don’t have as many opportunities as they should to experience work-based learning,” says Aankit Patel, dean of information and computer sciences at the City University of New York. “It particularly levels the playing field for our students who are also working to support themselves and their family.”
Two rounds of courses will launch between summer 2025 and spring 2026, and each will be monitored for input and review.
Patel is eager to see how the AI consortium will upgrade CUNY’s instruction in the sciences, public health, cybersecurity and teacher education. Students will use AI to handle personal health data or solve complex engineering problems in computer science. Regardless of the discipline, the curriculum will allow students to blend AI literacy with topical workplace issues in a low-stakes classroom environment.
“To be able to hear directly what our employers are seeing and have that imminently inform curriculum is extremely important,” Ansell says. “Things are moving really fast; job descriptions are changing, and employers are demanding these skills.”
Nearly two-thirds of university leaders surveyed by AAC&U believe their spring 2024 graduates were not prepared to enter the workforce due to a lack of AI skills.
Under-resourced institutions serving the bulk of the country’s low-income minority students will be the least prepared, which in turn could exacerbate the country’s racial wealth gap and inequality, Ansell says. “We can’t wait for the data [from employers] to come to higher education—we need a project like this to explode across the country.”
