San Jose State University has smoked the competition in a national computer science and technical skills assessment, beating out Stanford, CalTech and UC Berkeley. Since 2021, SJSU has jumped 47 spots to become No. 2 in the nation for data-driven programming and software engineering skills, just behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The university offers a master’s degree in artificial intelligence and courses in advanced coding, machine learning and robotics, vaulting students’ knowledge and the school’s prestige to the top of the list. President Cynthia Teniente-Matson is a driving force in the university’s embracing of AI to empower faculty and students. The university adopted the emerging technology following California State University’s investment of $16.9 million with OpenAI to purchase 500,000 ChatGPT.edu licenses for CSU students, faculty and administrators in 2025. “I believe we need to lean into it pretty extensively and integrate into everything we’re doing, which includes our administrative processes,” Teniente-Matson said on the Nvidia AI Podcast. “If you’re in our engineering and computer science programs, they’re very far ahead. And that is really a competitive advantage for our students.” Teniente-Matson was not available for comment. Jorjeta Jetcheva, chair of the Computer Engineering Department, said students benefit from faculty working in the tech industry. San Jose State University offers software and hardware focused bachelor’s degrees, and master’s degrees in computer engineering and artificial intelligence. She said the university is quickly adapting and expanding its offerings to better support students’ interests and work opportunities. Students also work with faculty on publishing research about AI. “We do have quite a few faculty who are doing research in artificial intelligence,” she told San Jose Spotlight. “We are in the process of launching an artificial intelligence minor for all College of Engineering students. We have a robotics minor. We’re expanding that to include an algorithm, or software track, for undergraduates.” In addition to attending campus events, Jetcheva said industry partners like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Qualcomm regularly hire SJSU graduates. “We recently had an event where we had around 40 alumni and industry collaborators. We discussed the future of the software engineering curriculum and asked for their feedback,” she said. “That’s another way we’re trying to make sure that what we’re teaching is relevant and that we can keep updating it.” Even before the CSU system partnered with OpenAI, San Jose State attracted students from across the world who are interested in the cutting edge of the latest technology. Anoushka Gade, who is from India and graduated from SJSU with a master’s degree in AI in 2023, said her courses taught her to apply research into working applications. “Back in 2021, when AI hype was not that high, we had assignments with … retrieval augmented generation,” she told San Jose Spotlight. “It’s way ahead of the curve and very much aligned to (the) industry.” Shishir Dongre, another graduate from India who received a master’s degree in computer science at SJSU, said his advanced courses in subjects such as AI helped him secure an internship and employment at Amazon. He said in addition to what the university offered, its proximity to events such as hackathons was a draw, and allowed him to network and learn advanced skills. “When you attend events that are hosted by companies like Google or Amazon, you get to learn a lot of stuff in a very short span of time,” he told San Jose Spotlight. “It is a huge advantage, and hackathons and tech events happen here all the time.” The university’s location in the heart of Silicon Valley allows for collaboration with top companies in the industry. Ahmed Banafa, a SJSU faculty member in the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering and expert in AI technologies, said guest speakers from Google and Nvidia provide his students with insight about what’s going on in the industry, creating a bridge between the classroom and the tech world. Banafa said AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud computing, blockchain technology, quantum computing and robotics are in high demand at SJSU. He said as students are taught the latest technology, what they learn is directly applicable when they graduate. The College of Engineering also has the advantage of an industry advisory council, made up of respected experts, CEOs, engineers and senior directors from different companies, he said. “We show them what we are doing … and they tell us, ‘This is outdated’ or ‘This is good’ … and they give us some tips,” he told San Jose Spotlight. Ethel Tshukudo, assistant professor of computer science and science education at SJSU, isn’t surprised the university received a high ranking. “Our students … have the high energy, they have the thirst, they want to learn computing, they want to learn technology and … to grow,” she told San Jose Spotlight. “Rather than us shying away from (AI), we want to find a way to embrace it in our classrooms.” Editor’s note: This story was originally published by San Jose Spotlight. ...read more read less