The University of Kentucky’s Board of Trustees approved the first artificial intelligence (AI) major in Kentucky in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering.

On Friday, Sept. 12, the board approved the AI academic degree, that will be launched in the fall of 2026.

According to the Board of Trustees’ agenda, the AI degree program will provide students with “in-depth knowledge of foundational and skills for building, evaluating and using AI systems.”

The curriculum is set up as 10 modules “that progressively build skills, from foundational awareness to advanced applications.”

UK is the first university in Kentucky to create an AI Bachelor of Science degree that qualifies as a major.

UK President Eli Capilouto supported integrating AI into education at UK at the last Board of Trustees meeting. 

“AI can, in profoundly positive ways and in ways that can also pose threats, is going to change everything we do, starting with how we educate students for a rapidly changing workforce,” Capilouto said at the June 13 meeting. “I feel even more strongly that it is our responsibility to our students and to our Commonwealth, that every graduate that leaves here is AI literate or competent.”

According to the Lantern College Counseling, only about a dozen United States institutions currently offer a formal major in AI.

Other universities in Kentucky, including UK, offer certificates, concentrations and minors related to AI, according to UKNow, but none have yet to offer a formal major.

UK already offers an AI certificate, allowing any student who completes this degree to understand AI literacy, according to UKNow.

Brent Harrison, director of the AI certificate program and associate professor of computer science, said his department recognized a need to educate and utilize the AI building systems.

“It’s quickly becoming apparent that AI will be a mainstay in our lives,” Harrison said. “Because of this, AI competency and understanding are skills that are important for everyone.”