The University of Utah will soon offer the state’s first bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence. But while the major is new, the school is no stranger to the field that has gained traction in recent years.

The U. actually taught its first course in A.I. back in 1973, said Vivek Srikumar, an associate professor in the Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah, who recently found the course listing in an archived university catalog.

The class was listed as course No. 667, with a note that topics would include “problem solving, theorem proving, question answering, machine learning, pattern recognition, game playing, philosophical and social issues.”

Srikumar included a photo of that as part of his presentation Wednesday to the U.’s board of trustees. Members voted unanimously to approve for the new A.I. degree.

Students are expected to be able to enroll in the major by this fall, pending final signoff from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the accrediting body that oversees the U. and its programs.

“The U. has a strong history with A.I.,” said Srikumar, who joined the U. a decade ago.

The school has long been a leader in emerging technologies and research, he said, and it helped lay the foundation for the A.I. emergence happening now.

“There’s a huge market demand, and it’s growing,” Srikumar added.

And similar to that first class, the proposal for the new 109-credit program says the degree will include coursework in math, computer science, machine learning, data analysis, natural language processing, computer vision and robotics.

Additionally, there will be a specific course — with assistance from the U.’s College of Humanities — on how to build and develop A.I. systems responsibly and to learn about the societal, ethical and philosophical implications of the technology.

That latter course addition was an ask that came from the U.’s Academic Senate, which gave its preliminary approval, contingent on including that, during its April meeting.

Overall, the degree will be the first standalone bachelor’s in Utah to focus solely on artificial intelligence, according to a letter of support for the program from Utah’s commissioner over higher education, Geoff Landward.

Landward noted there are currently only a handful of A.I.-focused degrees across the state:

• Utah Tech University has a master’s program in artificial intelligence.

• Similarly, Brigham Young University has a master’s in computer science with an A.I. specialization.

• The U. offers similar “track” options for masters and Ph.D.s in computing. And there are A.I. minors offered through both the School of Computing and the School of Business. The College of Engineering also has a graduate certificate in deep learning and artificial intelligence in robotics. Also on Wednesday, the U.’s board of trustees approved a master’s degree in workplace writing and emergent technologies that will also incorporate A.I.

• Utah Valley University has a new bachelor’s coming online this fall in information systems with an applied artificial intelligence emphasis.

• Utah State University offers a certificate in machine learning.

• And Southern Utah University offers a certificate in A.I. and one in the principles of artificial intelligence around literacy and ethics.

• Western Governors University, an online school headquartered in Salt Lake County, told The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday that it offers an engineering bachelor’s focused on A.I. It also has artificial intelligence emphases for master’s programs in computer science and software engineering.

The U.’s new artificial intelligence degree, though, joins a legion of new bachelor’s programs popping up at universities and colleges across the country, in nearly every state.

During the board meeting, trustee Bassam Salem asked Srikumar how the A.I. bachelor’s differs from data science, which is closely related, and wondered if the new “trendy” program might steal students away from the older offering.

Srikumar noted that data science is separately focused on understanding and using data to make decisions. A.I. is about “creating intelligent systems that can act, predict or assist autonomously,” according to the U.’s proposal for the new degree.

“It’s not going to cannibalize the existing [computer science] student body,” Srikumar added.

Trustees Chair Katie Eccles said she sees the new degree as “current and relevant” for the changing workforce. Data submitted for the proposal backs that, as well as the review from the commissioner’s office.

“The Utah Department of Workforce Services continues to identify artificial intelligence as a high-demand field requiring additional graduates to meet workforce needs,” that review noted.

Workforce demand has been a new focus for Utah’s public higher education system after the state Legislature cut $60.5 million from the budget and told schools to reinvest that money in high-demand, high-paying fields where the state needs employees.

The Utah Department of Workforce Services noted 155 new A.I.-related jobs were added in the state in March 2025 — the highest level since 2022. And the department anticipates 2.9% annual growth in the field, according to the U.’s proposal.

Two companies — Qualtrics, a software company with a Utah office, and L3Harris, an aerospace and defense manufacturer — also both sent letters of support for the new degree at the U.

“This proposal comes at a time of major disruption in our field: computing is being upended by the impact of generative AI,” wrote Mary Hall, the current director of the Kahlert School of Computing, in a 2025 letter also in favor of the program. “Moreover, AI is pervading every technical field and industry, and how students learn.”

The degree will require creating three new classes and hiring three new full-time and one part-time faculty members. $600,000 has been allocated for that.

It will be funded through the 2025 Engineering and Computing Initiative, set up by the state Legislature and run by Talent Ready Utah. The U. will provide matching funds.

After three years, tuition from enrolled students is expected to provide the base for continuing the program.