
‘Just not monetizable’: humanities programs face existential crisis at US universities
Fears over the future of humanities spread amid layoffs and restructurings at scores of public and private universities.

Fears over the future of humanities spread amid layoffs and restructurings at scores of public and private universities.

During an academic year where everybody is planning for everything, colleges are striving to tighten their operations across all fronts to triumph over seismic changes to the sector. Here are a few higher education threads that leaders should begin preparing for now.

Meet CoCo—the friendly, insightful chameleon bringing Gray DI’s latest AI innovation to life. As part of the College Companions platform, CoCo offers 24/7 multilingual support, intuitive guidance, and a warm, approachable presence. Designed to adapt to each institution’s brand, CoCo makes powerful AI tools feel personal, accessible, and student-centered.

Gray Decision Intelligence has launched College Companions™—a new suite of AI-powered applications that enhance tutoring, career guidance, and communication support, including the company’s first student-facing offerings. Also debuting is the Economics Agent, which gives academic leaders fast, natural-language access to financial and operational data for smarter decision-making.

University Business features Gray DI data on how job market shifts are impacting the demand for computer science degrees. As AI reshapes the workforce, some roles are seeing rapid growth while others face disruption. Explore these trends, the skills employers are prioritizing, and what they mean for the future of tech education.

Hear from Lorlei Boyd, Developer at Gray Decision Intelligence, as she shares her journey from humanities graduate to AI software leader. Lorlei challenges stereotypes, highlighting how her humanities background equipped her for success in STEM. Discover her unique perspective on prompt engineering, app development, and the intersection of disciplines.

Today, Gray DI, the leading provider of academic program evaluation software, launched AI Reports: easy-to-understand text reports that summarize dozens of metrics on the markets for academic programs. AI Reports enables leaders from English to Engineering professors to academic deans, provosts, and presidents to understand the markets for programs and make better decisions on academic programs to Start, Stop, Fix, or Grow – decisions that drive enrollment growth and efficiency.

In a landscape where skepticism about AI ethics looms large, developer Lorlei Boyd advocates for mindful and human-centered AI development to address ethical challenges, urging businesses to start small, prioritize data security, and seek impactful AI applications.

Gray Decision Intelligence (Gray DI), the leading provider of academic program evaluation software, today announced significant growth in 2023. Gray DI’s Program Evaluation System (PES) software now empowers investment in academic programs that drive student success and enrollment growth at over 150 colleges and universities nationwide.