Global survey of 45,000 finds universities losing the AI race with their own students

The Digital Education Council's AI in Higher Education Global Survey 2026 reports 88 percent student AI adoption across 35 countries, with faculty confidence falling in the US and Canada.

The Digital Education Council's AI in Higher Education Global Survey 2026 draws on 45,398 responses across 35 countries

Students have made up their minds about AI. Their universities have not. That is the picture from the Digital Education Council's (DEC) AI in Higher Education Global Survey 2026, which draws on 45,398 responses from 27,284 students and 18,114 faculty across 35 countries, one of the largest datasets on AI in higher education assembled to date.

The survey finds 88 percent of students now use AI in their learning, and 77 percent of faculty use it in their teaching, up 16 percentage points on 2025. What has not kept pace is everything around that adoption: 57 percent of students say their assessments come with inadequate AI guidance, only 29 percent believe their instructors are equipped to guide them on AI use, and just 31 percent of faculty agree their institution involves them meaningfully in shaping AI policy.

"AI has moved into the mainstream of student and faculty life faster than institutions have been able to respond to it. Adoption is now widespread, but coherent practice is not," Alessandro Di Lullo, Chief Executive Officer, and Daniel A. Bielik, President of the Digital Education Council, write in the report.

The instructor readiness gap is stark against faculty's own account: 64 percent of faculty say they have participated in AI literacy training, yet fewer than three in ten students feel they see the results.

Students are getting more from AI, and losing something too

The survey captures both sides of student AI use. On the gains, 61 percent of students say AI frees them to focus more on thinking through ideas, and 31 percent are attempting more challenging work than before.

Then come what the DEC calls early signs of dependence: 22 percent of students say they find it harder to work without AI, 20 percent say they depend on it to produce better work, and 19 percent say they are retaining less because they rely on it.

The students themselves are worried. Two thirds, 66 percent, worry AI could make learning too shallow and discourage critical thinking, rising to 81 percent in the US and Canada. Faculty concern runs even higher, with more than 73 percent worried students are using AI at the expense of developing their own skills.

Trust between students is fraying too. Globally, 60 percent worry classmates might misuse AI for unfair advantage. In the US and Canada, that reaches 73 percent.

The US and Canada break from the rest of the world

Everywhere else, faculty are leaning in. Intent to use AI in teaching stands at 92 percent in APAC, 89 percent in EMEA, and 94 percent in Latin America. In the US and Canada, it has fallen nine percentage points in a year, from 76 percent to 67 percent, the lowest of any region.

The sentiment gap is wider still. In the US and Canada, 55 percent of faculty say AI poses a serious risk to human intellectual development, against 29 percent in APAC. And 43 percent of US and Canada students say they would support an institution-wide ban on AI.

"Students are not asking for less rigour; they are asking for clarity. Faculty want to adapt and need the institutional direction to do so. The institutions that act deliberately now will define the narrative rather than be defined by it," Di Lullo and Bielik write.

Assessments built for a world that is disappearing

Only 28 percent of students feel most or many of their assessments reflect the work, skills, and judgment they expect to need in an AI-enabled workplace. Nearly a quarter, 24 percent, report not being allowed, encouraged, or required to use AI in any assessment at all, rising to 38 percent in the US and Canada.

Students doubt their degrees are keeping up: 37 percent express serious doubts about whether their program is relevant for AI and the future. Faculty see it differently, with 43 percent globally not worried that what they teach will be outdated by graduation, rising to 58 percent in the US and Canada, the region where student confidence is lowest. The report also cites the DEC's 2025 AI in the Workplace Report, in which 80 percent of employers said higher education is not keeping up with industry change.