Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science will launch two new degree programs in artificial intelligence beginning in the fall of 2026: a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence Science. The programs, offered through the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, are designed from the ground up for the way AI is built and deployed today.
The announcement comes as demand for AI talent continues to accelerate. U.S. job postings requiring AI skills grew 144 percent year over year as of April 2026, compared to 7 percent growth for all job postings combined, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s AI Skills Dashboard powered by Lightcast. LinkedIn ranked artificial intelligence engineer as the number one fastest-growing job title in the United States, with postings rising 143 percent in 2025. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of data scientists to grow 36 percent through 2033.
The United States faces a structural talent gap of 1.3 million AI job openings with current supply covering fewer than half, according to industry analysts. Workers with AI skills command wage premiums of up to 56 percent above peers in equivalent roles, according to PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer.
Bachelor’s program
The AI Science bachelor’s degree requires 120 credits and is structured across six components: a general education foundation, a computing core, a 15-credit AI core, a two-semester senior capstone, a concentration and upper-division electives. AI coursework begins in the second year — earlier than comparable programs — building toward specialization and internship opportunities before senior year.
Students choose between two nine-credit concentrations: a software concentration focused on algorithms, data and machine intelligence, or a hardware concentration in AI processor architecture, acceleration and silicon design. Syracuse says the program is among the first undergraduate AI degrees in the country to offer both a software and a hardware path.
The AI core covers five required courses: Technical Fundamentals of AI, AI Experiential Programming, Introduction to Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence Algorithms and Natural Language Processing. The experiential programming course is built around using AI tools to build AI — students work with large language model-powered development environments, retrieval-augmented generation pipelines and AI agent frameworks such as Claude Code, Skills, and the Model Context Protocol.
A three-course senior capstone sequence connects students with regional industry partners. Past and expected collaborators include Lockheed Martin, Saab and Hidden Level, among other defense and technology employers in the Syracuse region.
Graduate program
The AI Science master’s program requires 30 credits and is designed to produce senior-level AI scientists and engineers capable of designing and analyzing AI systems across both software and hardware domains. Full-time students can complete the degree in three semesters; part-time students typically take four.
The program is structured around a 12-credit core, a three-credit specialization track, a six-credit capstone or thesis, six credits of AI electives and a three-credit engineering elective. The specialization tracks are AI hardware design and natural language processing.
Two 500-level bridge courses — Formal Foundations of AI and Introduction to the Theory and Practice of AI and Machine Learning — are designed to bring graduates from mathematics, physics and engineering fields into the program without requiring a computer science undergraduate degree or additional prerequisite coursework. The university says this removes a barrier that typically costs non-computer science applicants up to an additional year at other institutions – saving students time and tuition costs.
Students who pursue original research may elect the master’s thesis option, defended before a faculty panel under Graduate School standards. Students pursuing professional practice complete a two-semester capstone project in collaboration with external partners.
“This program was designed for students who have a strong technical foundation and want to lead AI projects, not just participate in them,” said Paulo Shakarian, director of the master’s program. “The bridge courses mean we can bring in physicists, mechanical engineers, mathematicians – and have them doing serious AI work in the first semester.”
AI science as a discipline
Employers are moving quickly. The BPC dashboard found that job postings mentioning AI skills grew at more than 20 times the rate of overall job postings in the year ending April 2026. Skills requirements in AI-exposed roles are changing 66 percent faster than in other fields, according to research from Index.dev.
Syracuse University’s programs differ from many AI offerings in their hardware emphasis. The bachelor’s hardware concentration and the master’s AI hardware design track cover FPGA acceleration, neuromorphic chip design, model optimization for silicon and systolic array architectures for deep neural network processing – areas the university says reflect growing demand from defense, robotics and embedded systems employers.