\n<\/p>\n
The California State University system\u2019s $17 million contract with OpenAI is up for renewal in June.<\/p>\n
Photo illustration by Justin Morrison\/Inside Higher Ed | stuartbur\/iStock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
More than a year after the California State University system spent $17\u00a0million to give all students, faculty and staff access to ChatGPT Edu in the name of workforce readiness, thousands don\u2019t want the system to renew its contract with OpenAI. <\/p>\n
While they\u2019re skeptical of the product\u2019s ability to enhance teaching and learning and worried about its potential to worsen working conditions and student mental health, the CSU system\u2019s ongoing financial troubles are driving the pushback. In January, faculty wrote a petition asking Chancellor Mildred Garc\u00eda not to renew the CSU\u2019s contract with OpenAI, which expires June 30, and instead \u201cuse the savings to protect jobs at CSU campuses facing layoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that investing in the CSU\u2019s human workforce is the best way to ensure the quality of research, teaching, and learning in California public education,\u201d the petition reads. \u201cThe challenges that we face in higher education cannot be resolved with AI. We must, instead, empower faculty, staff, and students to define a sustainable, human-centered future for the CSU system.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CSU system\u2019s contract with OpenAI is the largest of such partnerships to date, but the company has also inked deals with numerous other universities, including Arizona State University, the University of Oxford and the University of South Carolina. One of the latest\u2014a $2\u00a0million annual contract with the University of Colorado system announced last month\u2014has already generated faculty pushback.<\/p>\n
At both the CU and CSU systems, such deals are raising questions about institutional priorities. <\/p>\n
When it announced the deal with OpenAI in February 2025, the CSU system\u2014which has 460,000 students and 63,000 faculty and staff across 23 campuses\u2014was facing a potential $375\u00a0million state budget cut and many of its universities were already in the process of tightening their belts though layoffs, program closures and reductions in course offerings. (The CSU system was spared from the bulk of those cuts in the state\u2019s final budget.) <\/p>\n
\u201cIn February 2025, we all got an email out of the blue announcing the AI-Empowered CSU initiative that we hadn\u2019t heard anything about. We were really surprised,\u201d said Martha Kenney, a professor of women\u2019s and gender studies at San Francisco State University, which has eliminated 615 lecturer positions over the past two years and offered buyouts to all tenured and tenure-track faculty. \u201cIn the middle of the budget crisis, it\u2019s best to invest in the humans that make the CSU system great, rather than buy in to Silicon Valley\u2019s hype.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that hype is powerful. <\/p>\n
Like every other higher education institution, the CSU system is also under mounting pressure to address the tech sector\u2019s predictions that artificial intelligence\u2013powered technology will soon wipe out many entry-level white-collar jobs\u2014and that AI-literate job seekers will have a leg up. <\/p>\n
At the same time, big tech companies are jockeying to corner the massive higher education market and make loyal customers out of the next generation of workers. Over the past two years, many have rolled out education-specific versions of their large language models, including Anthropic\u2019s Claude for Education, Google\u2019s Gemini for Education and OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT Edu, which allow students, faculty, researchers and administrators to use the technology in a closed, secure system. <\/p>\n
All three companies have since formed AI partnerships with colleges and universities, but OpenAI is winning the race so far. In December, Bloomberg<\/em> reported that the company had sold more than 700,000 ChatGPT licenses to about 35 public universities. <\/p>\n But from what some faculty at CSU have seen over the past year, they aren\u2019t convinced that ChatGPT Edu is a revolutionary new classroom tool. <\/p>\n That\u2019s in part because \u201cdespite the name, ChatGPT Edu is not educational technology. It is a general-purpose chatbot that is not designed, trained, or optimized for education,\u201d the petition asserts. \u201cBeyond its privacy and security features, ChatGPT Edu is identical to the free online version of ChatGPT.\u201d<\/p>\n In practice, having access to ChatGPT Edu hasn\u2019t changed much, said Martha Lincoln, an associate professor of anthropology at San Francisco State who is also leading the faculty dissent against the OpenAI contract. <\/p>\n \u201cMy fall semester teaching was much the same as other semesters. We are not required in any way by our administration to use these tools. Some student work shows evidence of LLM use, but that was the case before we entered into this contract,\u201d she said. \u201cThe introduction of a university-sponsored [LLM] doesn\u2019t really change the conversation in the classroom, except insofar as students are tacitly being given permission by the institution to see it as a legitimate part of their learning.\u201d<\/p>\n And because there\u2019s not much guidance on how ChatGPT Edu should\u2014or could\u2014be used in the classroom, students are getting \u201cmixed messages,\u201d said Kenney, Lincoln\u2019s colleague and fellow OpenAI dissenter.<\/p>\n \u201cSome classes ban it outright. Some faculty have policies that require students who use it to cite it or describe their process. And other faculty are allowing students to use it for whatever purpose they see fit,\u201d she said, adding that she\u2019s banned the use of generative AI. \u201cIt would behoove us to have institutional guidelines so that students could have critical AI literacy and consistent policies that help them understand how this fits or doesn\u2019t fit with their education.\u201d<\/p>\n However, even education experts are still not clear on all of the potential benefits and downsides of AI-powered technology, which has evolved at a rapid pace in the nearly three and a half years since OpenAI debuted the original ChatGPT. To aid in that research, the CSU system last July allocated $3\u00a0million for 63 faculty-led projects aimed at researching the intersections of AI and higher education.<\/p>\n \u201cAI can\u2019t really do everything for everyone all at once, but it\u2019s very good at doing specific things for specific populations,\u201d said Tal Slemrod, an education professor at Chico State. \u201cOne of the challenges we have with the big CSU\/OpenAI contract is that it\u2019s all put together in this big jumble of AI doing everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Slemrod said he hasn\u2019t signed the petition, he wants the CSU system to provide some data about the benefits of ChatGPT Edu, specifically, before it renews the contract this summer. <\/p>\n In an email to Inside Higher Ed<\/em>, a CSU system spokesperson said that it has indeed surveyed more than 94,000 students, faculty and staff about how they are using AI for teaching and learning. Though results of the survey are not yet publicly available, the system says they plan to release them soon. <\/p>\n \u201cLearnings from this survey will help the CSU Generative AI Committee make informed recommendations on how AI can better support our community,\u201d Amy Bentley-Smith, director of media relations and public affairs, said. When asked if the CSU system plans to renew its contract with OpenAI, she added that it\u2019s \u201cconsidering all options that will allow the CSU to continue to provide students, faculty, and staff access to AI tools, resources, and training.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, a similar battle over ChatGPT Edu has only just begun at the University of Colorado system. <\/p>\n To the surprise of some faculty and staff, the CU system announced in February that it had signed a $2\u00a0million\u2013a\u2013year contract with OpenAI\u2014renewable annually for three years\u2014to provide ChatGPT Edu to more than 100,000 students, staff and faculty across the system. <\/p>\n \u201cWe know that for some members of our community, generative AI raises significant concerns around privacy, sustainability and ethical use,\u201d Todd Saliman, CU president, wrote in a Feb. 11 systemwide email announcing the deal. \u201cWe share those concerns and are working to mitigate\u2014where possible\u2014the impacts. We continue to believe, however, that the importance of this tool today and in the future for our students, faculty and staff offers a return on investment we cannot ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n In response, faculty and students wrote an open letter of dissent, recommending, among other things, that faculty lead development of an \u201cethical use policy, critical AI literacy training materials, and guidelines about how the university should communicate about the OpenAI contract and product.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter, which has since been signed by hundreds of faculty and students, raises concerns about OpenAI\u2019s commitment to data privacy, the limited evidence showing ChatGPT Edu\u2019s benefits to teaching and learning, and the CU system\u2019s motivations for signing the contract in the first place. <\/p>\n Saliman\u2019s comment that the deal \u201coffers a return on investment we cannot ignore\u201d highlights \u201cthe financial incentives driving this agreement, which we believe have overshadowed the educational needs of students, staff, and faculty,\u201d the letter said. \u201cThe CU System has not meaningfully consulted its own experts, nor has it taken enough prophylactic action to ensure a safe and effective rollout of this new product. While many of us would prefer a divestment from OpenAI, we recognize that this outcome is unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n And similar to the CSU system, some CU campuses are also facing major budget cuts amid announcement of the deal with OpenAI. Earlier this year, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs announced a five-year plan to close its current $27.7\u00a0million budget gap, including cutting $11.7\u00a0million in spending this year. <\/p>\n While the CU system is covering the first year of the $2\u00a0million\u2013a\u2013year contract, a university web page about the deal says its four campuses \u201cwill assume the cost of their individual environments\u201d after that. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople are upset that there appears to be money to support AI but not faculty and staff,\u201d said Dylan Harris, an assistant professor of geography at Colorado Springs and president of the university\u2019s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. \u201cIt is not that AI is taking our jobs per se, but that AI is being prioritized over many of our jobs.\u201d <\/p>\n While the university plans to make the tool available for all faculty and staff by March 31, it\u2019s delaying student access until Aug. 14, according to a recent memo from Saliman. \u201cWe have heard concerns from faculty about disruption to the learning environment and take Faculty Council concerns seriously,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe fully endorse the right of faculty to establish and maintain their individual classroom expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n But not every university with an OpenAI contract is dealing with such intense faculty rebukes. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of us creating college degrees that are relevant,\u201d Elisa Kawam, a social work professor and president of the Arizona State Faculty Senate, told Inside Higher Ed<\/em>. \u201cWe are all under the realization that we have to learn how to use this, teach this and model this because that\u2019s the way the world is going. Ethically, we cannot teach without preparing our students for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Giving all students and faculty access to ChatGPT Edu has only made adaptation easier, she added. \u201cBefore we had access, many students and faculty were paying for their own licenses or using free versions. People were using it, just not in a uniform way,\u201d she said. \u201cThis allows me to integrate ChatGPT Edu into my classes in a much more transparent, measured, accountable way because I know everyone has access.\u201d<\/p>\n ASU was the first university to partner with OpenAI, in 2024, and it\u2019s already on its third contract. According to contracts obtained by a public records request, the university\u2019s first one-year contract, which expired in December 2024, was valued at $300,000. The second, which expired in September 2025, was valued at $216,260. And the third, which expires in September, was valued at $2.1\u00a0million. <\/p>\n From Kawam\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s worth it. But that\u2019s in part because, unlike the CSU and CU systems, ASU faculty aren\u2019t worried about losing their jobs, too. \u201cWe have a new technology, but we haven\u2019t seen any cuts to faculty engagement, salaries or hiring,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been able to hold constant with what we know as professors, while also getting to play with this new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n At the universities where there is faculty pushback, she added, \u201cthe question is are they upset about the technology or are they upset about the university\u2019s priorities as a whole?\u201d<\/p>\n No matter a university\u2019s financial picture, it\u2019s crucial to keep faculty at the center of these decisions to provide campuswide access to ChatGPT Edu or the phalanx of other AI-powered learning tools emerging by the day, said C. Edward Watson, vice president for digital innovation at the American Association\u00a0of\u00a0Colleges and Universities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re at a moment where AI is likely an essential tool for campuses to have access to, but the larger question is how to meet that need,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s lots of companies providing solutions these days, and there may be cheaper paths to be explored. Including faculty in that procurement process increases trust within the institution and would also help ensure to make the best decision. Those who are using and teaching from the tools need to be a part of the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The California State University system\u2019s $17 million contract with OpenAI is up for renewal in June. Photo illustration by Justin Morrison\/Inside Higher Ed | stuartbur\/iStock\/Getty Images More than a year after the California State University system spent $17\u00a0million to give all students, faculty and staff access to ChatGPT Edu in the name of workforce readiness,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[3568,3350,1430,1092],"class_list":{"0":"post-47589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-deals","9":"tag-faculty","10":"tag-openai","11":"tag-push"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Overshadowed\u2019 in Colorado <\/h2>\n
\u2018Upset\u2019 About AI or the University\u2019s Priorities?<\/h2>\n