The University of Michigan opened its computer science major to all qualified students in spring 2026, ending the specialized admissions process it imposed in fall 2023 after teaching capacity grew and enrollment stabilized amid a sharp decline in declarations.

The change was reported by The Michigan Daily. Declarations for the CS major fell in both colleges that offer it. In the College of Engineering, declarations dropped from 747 in 2023 to 294 in 2026. In the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA), they fell from 728 to 274 over the same period, according to data provided by Atul Prakash, division chair of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan. Both declines exceed 60%.

The university had required incoming students to check a box on the Common App or apply for a cross-campus transfer to declare the major. That gate is gone. The department said it lifted the requirement after teaching capacity grew and enrollment stabilized, according to the CSE admissions page. Any student in Engineering or LSA who meets the major’s declaration requirements can now declare.

"We were aiming for a 30% decline when we started the enrollment caps. We pretty much hit it. … So we feel comfortable in lifting the caps and letting students choose the major they want," Prakash told The Michigan Daily.

The drop at U-M tracks a national cooldown. Undergraduate CS enrollment at four-year institutions fell 8.4% in spring 2026, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The Michigan Daily reported that a Stanford University study found entry-level software development employment fell nearly 20% for workers ages 22 to 25 since 2024.

Students feel the squeeze. Khushi Sumani, an LSA junior double-majoring in computer science and data science, told The Michigan Daily that AI has made entry-level hiring far more competitive. Business junior Kavya Aggarwal, a CS minor, said companies now expect interdisciplinary skills and a portfolio on top of the degree.

Prakash compared the current slump to the enrollment drop that followed the 2000 dot-com crash, which eventually reversed. He said the department is introducing courses focused on agentic AI through the university's new Institute for Agentic Computing.

The policy change applies to students who were previously denied CS selection, those who never checked the box, and transfer students who did not list CS as their intended major.