Michigan State University
MI · AI Readiness #84 of 227
AIREDEX™ Score: 7.7 /10
Michigan State is pouring money into AI through a $340 million engineering center, campus-wide ChatGPT and Gemini access, and a university-wide AI minor, though its governance structure is still in the formation stage.
Apple's Manufacturing and Developer Academies give MSU real industry traction, and the College of Engineering has started weaving AI into intro courses like EGR 100. But the push for new AI coursework has come largely from an outside business council rather than faculty, which drew public pushback at a faculty senate meeting earlier this year. MSU also doesn't have a dedicated AI officer yet, and its planned undergraduate AI ethics course won't launch until 2027. That leaves Michigan State building fast but still catching up to Big Ten peers who started sooner.
Pillar grades
- Commitment: C+
- Curriculum: A-
- Partnerships: A
- Research: B+
A(I)ttitude™: progressive
Selected Highlights
- ai.msu.edu launched fall 2025 as a dedicated institutional AI hub; Generative AI Guidelines published August 2025 by Provost's office; MSU 2030 strategic plan explicitly names AI expansion as a goal.
- $50M Leinweber Foundation gift anchors a $340M Engineering and Digital Innovation Center with AI as a named focus area — largest facility gift in MSU history.
- Omura-Saxena Endowed Professorship in Responsible AI held by Prof. Anjana Susarla (Broad College of Business); Ethics Institute hosts annual AI Summit and AI & Ethics Workshop series; active programming confirmed within past 2 years.
- ChatGPT EDU (MSU-managed OpenAI enterprise license) and Google Gemini confirmed as distinct non-Microsoft campus-wide licensed AI tools with student access; two qualifying tools deployed.
- Apple Developer Academy AI Literacy and Workforce Readiness program (certificate-bearing, August 2026 pilot, open to all majors) and AI-Ready Spartans Education Innovation Grants Challenge ($506K, 18 funded projects) confirmed as distinct named components.