China reshapes higher education as AI drives closure of 12,200 programs

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is reshaping the higher education landscape in China. Between 2021 and 2025, Chinese universities closed or suspended approximately 12,200 academic programs while introducing about 10,000 new ones. This restructuring affects roughly 30 percent of the country’s total study programs as the government pushes for curricula that align more closely with critical industrial sectors like robotics, semiconductors, and AI.

Fields facing the most significant reductions include the arts, humanities, management, and languages. For instance, the Central Academy of Fine Arts has eliminated several traditional programs, such as illustration, photography, translation, and fashion design. Similarly, the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology has halted admissions for product design.

These shifts are driven by changing labor market demands. In sectors like design, AI is increasingly capable of performing core tasks such as modeling and rendering, leading to limited job prospects for graduates. Unemployment rates in some of these affected sectors have reportedly exceeded 16 percent as the job market adapts to AI integration.