How Higher Ed Can Secure Funding To Align With An AI-Powered Workforce
A wave of recent funding announcements has made one thing unmistakably clear: Higher education is a driving force in building the AI-powered workforce. In the past few weeks alone, the University of Vermont received $5.5 million from the National Science Foundation for AI research and infrastructure, while Mississippi institutions—including Belhaven University and Alcorn State—secured over $2 million to launch applied AI programs and community-focused training. These investments signal a nationwide shift: Funders and employers now look to higher education to build the talent pipelines, innovation labs, and equity-centered ecosystems the AI era demands.
What Employers Want Now
At the heart of most AI-related funding is a workforce mandate. Employers are no longer hiring based solely on credentials. They're looking for capabilities: critical thinking, communication, adaptability, and applied problem-solving.
AI fluency ranks as the top skill employers expect to need within the next five years, according to the 2025 Corporate Recruiters Survey from the Graduate Management Admission Council, which included data from more than 1,100 global recruiters and hiring managers, including from Fortune 500 firms. AI fluency is now the most important skill they expect to need within five years. It's not just for computer science majors. Employers want graduates who can ask better questions, challenge AI-generated outputs, and synthesize insights across disciplines.
"The things people learn that are routine—that AI does for them—forces people to do higher-level thinking," said Josh Bersin, global industry analyst and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company. 'Employers want people who can take a complex or undefined problem, break it down, and figure out what to do about it.'
Universities that align curricula with these evolving demands—and measure student outcomes accordingly—will be best positioned to attract long-term partners. Make Your College Easy To Fund
Public and private sector partners want more than great ideas—they want institutions that are easy to work with. To stand out, universities need to demonstrate that they have the infrastructure, flexibility, and relationships to deliver on shared goals.
This begins with building authentic employer engagement. Setting up an employer advisory council that meets regularly to shape course design, co-develop capstones, and validate job skills sends a clear message of labor market alignment. For example, the National Applied Artificial Intelligence Consortium includes leaders from Intel, Amazon, and Honeywell, and has helped guide the creation of new microcredentials tied directly to regional hiring needs at colleges such as Miami Dade College, Houston Community College and Maricopa County Community College District. Where The Money Is Flowing
The U.S. National Science Foundation's new Regional Innovation Engines channel up to $160 million over ten years into university–industry coalitions tackling AI grand challenges. Corporate capital is right behind: Amazon Web Services' Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance now links 650 employers with more than 970 colleges worldwide, jointly modernizing cloud- and AI-rich programs. Philanthropy is surging, too—Schmidt Futures' AI 2050 is directing $125 million toward university research that keeps AI beneficial for society. Additional backers—from Google.org to IBM SkillsBuild—are lining up behind similar workforce-first projects.
Three Moves Higher Ed Can Make Now
AI is not a trend; it's a tectonic shift. Universities that step forward as partners in building the future workforce—grounded in ethics, powered by innovation—will lead. The funding is here. The opportunity is real. Now is the time to lead.
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