AI adoption is broad, uneven

Universities are buying artificial intelligence tools for classrooms, tutoring, grading, admissions, and student support, but many campuses still run them like side projects instead of core systems. An April 8 report in The Hindu says visible activity is everywhere in higher education, while coordinated, institution-wide strategy is still rare. (thehindu.com) In India, the adoption numbers are already high enough that this is no longer a question of whether colleges use artificial intelligence at all. An EY-Parthenon and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry survey of 30 higher education institutions found 60 percent permit student use of artificial intelligence tools and 53 percent use generative artificial intelligence to build learning materials. (thehindubusinessline.com) The same survey found 40 percent of institutions had deployed artificial intelligence tutoring systems or chatbots, 39 percent had introduced adaptive learning platforms, and 38 percent were using artificial intelligence for automated grading. More than 56 percent had already implemented artificial intelligence-related policies, which shows the software is arriving faster than a full operating model. (thehindubusinessline.com) That gap is not unique to India. Ellucian said in its 2025 State of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education survey that 91 percent of administrators personally use artificial intelligence, but only 66 percent reported institution-wide adoption, up from 49 percent a year earlier. (ellucian.com) Even among schools that say they are moving ahead, strategy is still patchy. Ellucian found only 43 percent said artificial intelligence was included in their institution’s strategic plan, while 30 percent said they were unsure, which is like a campus buying buses before deciding where the routes go. (ellucian.com) That helps explain why the most eye-catching claims are often narrow and local. Chandigarh University said in a July 2025 institutional thread on X that its artificial intelligence systems could identify pre-inquiry leads with about 85 percent accuracy, pointing to one of the clearest near-term uses for campuses: finding which prospective students are most likely to convert before a counselor spends time on them. (x.com) Admissions is an especially tempting place to start because universities already collect piles of inquiry forms, test scores, click data, and follow-up records. UNESCO’s higher education institute said in August 2025 that pilot programs in admissions, student services, and finance show promise, but they also require strong data governance, privacy rules, and accountability. (iesalc.unesco.org) Some colleges are trying to move beyond isolated tools by changing what every student sees. Inside Higher Ed reported on April 3 that Agnes Scott College will add a three-part artificial intelligence curriculum to its required first-year experience, with topics including bias, privacy, surveillance, accountability, labor displacement, and environmental impact. (insidehighered.com) The pattern across these examples is simple: one campus uses artificial intelligence to chase applicants, another uses it to redesign first-year teaching, and many more use it to generate materials or power chatbots. What is still missing on a lot of campuses is the layer that connects those pieces: budget, rules, training, disclosure standards, and a decision about which uses belong everywhere and which should stay experimental. (thehindu.com)