American Universities to be AI-Ready by Year 2030. The Safe AI Foundation sees the path for American universities to be "AI-Ready" and "AI-Transformed" to be a very different and challenging one. Most universities today respond to the arrival of AI by executing the following:

1. Roll out more AI courses for undergraduates and graduates

2. Undertake more AI projects and research

3. Secure more funding for AI research

4. Offer new AI degree courses

5. Use more AI tools in universities

These actions DO NOT make universities "AI-Ready" and "AI-Transformed".

EDUCATION & JOBS

Our schools are not responding fast enough to cope with the changes in the job market and society. Our university students are studying for jobs that may not exist by 2030! We have witnessed the mass layoffs now, in 2025, as AI displaced certain jobs.

What university students have studied will be outdated and may no longer be useful to industries, making acquiring jobs difficult or impossible.

However, K12 education remains critical and necessary for imparting language, math, ethics, science and AI knowledge to youths.

PURPOSE, VALUE & RELEVANCE

If our universities cannot transform and change fast enough, universities may face the threat of existence, as students abandon the need to acquire a college degree and may pursue AI-based education and skills training instead.

Already, new private learning sources and platforms have emerged, including those from Google, OpenAI, Coursera, Udemy, etc. Adults can now learn online based on their needs and career goals without having to attend a university.

See Executive Order on AI Education for American Youth

Tech hiring has now changed as hirers are looking for people with specific knowledge and skills, and not so much on university degrees. AI-driven HR tool will speedily scan and filter away candidates without specific skills, knowledge and experiences. Degrees are no longer the first criteria in candidates shortlisting. With alternative education and learning offerings online and from private sources, the increasing lack of appeal of university degrees, decreasing students population, student debts issues, and cuts in university research and education funding, universities may be forced to downsize or cease to operate in the future.

A query with Google AI - Gemini on how many universities have closed in the last 30 years and the answer is surprising:

{{ Over 300 Degree-granting Colleges and Universities in America have closed or merged between 2008 and 2024, with the number of annual closures increasing in recent years. }}

Now with the advent of AI and other factors, universities are faced with even more uncertainty and dynamics. This explains why the SAFE AI Foundation has mentioned about the need for AI-Ready Universities and AI Transformation in universities.

University leaders need a different mindset!

The arrival of AI has offered both INTELLIGENCE and KNOWLEDGE. University leaders will need to rethink what role they should play in the new Era of AI, in order to continue to offer value and stay relevant in the new AI-driven society. University leaders will need a different mindset and a new course of action.

Many successful billionaires and entrepreneurs have shown that they can build billion-dollar companies without a university degree. Furthermore, with the introduction of AI digital workforce (AI agents), many engineering graduates will have to face a shrinking job market as more jobs are replaced by AI agents. Some recent graduates with top GPAs are already complaining that AI has taken away their job opportunities. Hence, the current offerings by universities DO NOT MATCH the transformation happening in the market due to AI.

The SAFE AI Foundation offers a free "AI-Ready and AI-Transformation Framework" to all American university leaders. The aim is to have all American universities to be AI-Ready by Year 2030.

Join our call to transform your university today! Email us to express your interests at: contact@safeaifoundation.com

See our LINKEDIN posting on this topic here.

NOTE: The SAFE AI Foundation does not work with any consultancy companies such as McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte, PWC, etc., in offering this "AI-Ready and AI-Transformation Framework" for universities. Hence, no for-profit companies are allowed to copy, use, sell or monetize this framework designed by the SAFE AI Foundation USA to any other parties without permission. Furthermore, universities leaders are not allowed to release this information to for-profit companies or other universities without permission from the SAFE AI Foundation. Only mutually agreed universities are granted full access to this framework.