OpenAI Introduces ChatGPT Edu for Colleges

Despite concerns about data privacy, inherent bias, cheating, and plagiarism, higher education has begun embracing artificial intelligence (AI), including tools such as ChatGPT.

Advancements in AI hold promise for teaching and learning, student services, and academic research, and exposing students to the power and potential of AI will prepare them for a job market increasingly driven by this emerging technology.

Recognizing this potential, OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT, recently announced plans to roll out ChatGPT Edu, a platform designed specifically for colleges and universities. The announcement doesn’t mention cost but refers to the product as an affordable offering.

Partnering institutions will have access to the newly released GPT-4o, which features enhanced capabilities in interpretation, coding, and mathematics, along with data analytics, web browsing, and document summarization.

In addition, colleges will be able to build custom versions of ChatGPT, with support for more than 50 languages.

This tool, OpenAI says, can offer students personalized tutoring and resume reviews, help researchers write grant applications, and assist faculty with grading and feedback.

OpenAI also notes the tool’s robust security, data privacy, and administrative controls, and it guarantees that institutional conversations and data will not be used to train future OpenAI models.

The company says it created the Edu version based on the successes of universities that have already integrated this technology, including the University of Oxford, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), the University of Texas at Austin, Columbia University, and Arizona State University (ASU).

Penn recently introduced its Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative, an interdisciplinary endeavor that will encompass curricular enhancements, investments to advance new research, [and] collaboration between industry and academia.

The Wharton School plans to provide ChatGPT Enterprise licenses for all full-time and executive MBA students beginning next fall, marking the first such collaboration between a business school and OpenAI, Penn’s website claims.

Last February, OpenAI and ASU launched the first ChatGPT-higher ed partnership. The university implemented a ChatGPT Enterprise system focused on enhancing student success, forging new avenues for innovative research and streamlining organizational processes, according to a news release.

Needless to say, there’s been significant interest, Kyle Bowen, ASU’s deputy chief information officer, told BestColleges. The energy around this is incredible from our faculty and our students, who are interested in exploring how this changes teaching and learning and how it can change how they work and do what they need to do.

Through ASU’s Innovation Challenge, the university community has generated hundreds of proposals for ways to take advantage of this new AI tool, Bowen said. One successful venture thus far is a language buddy offering personalized, self-guided instruction in German to language learners.

Another application provides guidance for graduate students in the humanities seeking to improve their scholarly writing chops.

Bowen said the university continues to explore how it can build upon these early wins and extend AI’s impact.

Part of [the Innovation Challenge] is providing the tools and creating the space to experiment, he said. That’s the critical part where our staff, our faculty, and our students can begin to define new ideas and new approaches.

Bowen added that because generative AI is very much part of our students’ futures, they’re eager to explore what this new frontier looks like.

Indeed, a 2023 BestColleges survey revealed that 43% of college students have used ChatGPT or a similar AI application, while 61% think AI tools will become the new normal.

At the same time, however, an Inside Higher Ed survey of provosts found that only 14% of respondents said their university had reviewed its curriculum to ensure it will prepare students for AI in the workplace.

It’s increasingly clear AI is the next big thing for higher education, a technology that, for better or worse, will shape how colleges function in the coming years. Initially wary, colleges now welcome these tools, harnessing them to improve teaching and learning and streamline administrative functions.

Given this trend, it’s easy to imagine ChatGPT Edu will become a staple feature on America’s college campuses.

The ultimate goal is providing equitable access, Bowen said. That’s what everyone wants to build toward — a generative AI tool that’s available for students when they need to make use of this technology.