Mon, 19 Oct, 2026, 04:26 pm
Reported by today.ucsd.edu
From applying AI to finance, drug discovery and biocompatible biomaterials, these second-year students in the AI major found that the skills they acquired through their first year in this major were useful in many different fields.
In September 2026, UC San Diego was ranked the #8 AI undergraduate program in the country in the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. The Jacobs School of Engineering launched the undergraduate AI major in 2025 , in collaboration with the Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing, after more than a decade of growth in AI teaching and research on the UC San Diego campus. Housed in UC San Diego’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, this is one of the few AI majors in the U.S. built on a robust computer science foundation. The major is designed to meet the workforce demands of industry and the career preparation needs of students. It prepares students to build, apply and assess artificial intelligence technologies across disciplines; ground AI studies in societal and professional contexts; and engage students with the ethical questions surrounding these systems and their impact on society. The innovative major draws on expertise from across the Jacobs School and the entire campus, reflecting UC San Diego’s broader emphasis on interdisciplinary education, research and innovation.
