Applied disciplines combining "industry with AI or digital technologies" are experiencing a comprehensive surge in popularity. In recent years, universities have accelerated the adjustment and optimization of their academic departments and program offerings, significantly enhancing their capacity to serve national strategies and high-quality economic and social development. Currently, institutions are intensively carrying out the declaration process for new undergraduate programs for 2026, with many universities publicly announcing their proposed new or adjusted majors. According to data from MyCOS Research, a higher education management data institution, as of August 20, the organization has compiled relevant information released by 111 universities. The statistics reveal that the total number of proposed new or pre-filed undergraduate programs exceeds 630.
The data shows that the top 10 most frequently proposed or pre-filed majors include Low-Altitude Technology and Engineering, Digital Cultural Tourism, Embodied Intelligence, Urban Renewal, Digital Economy, Low-Altitude Economy and Management, AI Education, Digital Trade, and Robot Engineering. As the first super-regularly deployed urgent-need major, Low-Altitude Technology and Engineering was added to the undergraduate catalog in 2025; subsequently, Low-Altitude Economy and Management, along with Low-Altitude Safety Management, were incorporated into the catalog in 2026. From technology and engineering, to operations and management, and then to safety and security, universities are rapidly expanding their program offerings around the low-altitude economy industry chain.
Meanwhile, since 2025, a wave of low-altitude economy-related colleges has been established. For example, in April 2025, Shenyang Aerospace University inaugurated the nation's first Low-Altitude Economy College, adopting a school-enterprise co-construction model and operating under a four-chain synergy mechanism integrating education, talent, industry, and innovation. On April 11 of this year, the China Embodied Intelligence Conference was held in Hefei. At the event, Anhui University announced the establishment of its Low-Altitude Economy and Engineering College, Robotics College, and Brain-Computer Interface Research Institute.
Simultaneously, applied disciplines integrating "industry with AI or digital" are rising comprehensively. MyCOS Research data indicates that among the over 630 program points proposed or pre-filed by more than 100 universities, 36% are related to intelligence, smart technology, data, or digital fields, spanning sectors such as industry, economics and management, agriculture, and education. Majors like Digital Cultural Tourism, Embodied Intelligence, Digital Economy, AI Education, Digital Trade, and Commercial AI rank prominently in terms of proposed or pre-filed numbers. This signifies that university program adjustments are shifting from merely deploying digital technology itself to exploring deep integration between digital technology and specific industries or sectors.
Currently, the "AI+" trend is driving a wave of interdisciplinary integration. Taking the newly established Commercial AI major as an example, the number of universities proposing to add it is among the highest. For instance, recently, the Communication University of China published its 2026 undergraduate program setup announcement on its official website. The notice indicates that the university plans to apply to the Ministry of Education to add four undergraduate programs: Game Science and Technology, E-sports, Brand Studies, and Commercial AI. Ding Changfa, an associate professor in the Economics Department at Xiamen University, analyzed that AI has transformed the ecology of many industries and fields, permeating various academic disciplines. For instance, AI can be applied to statistics, investment, trade, finance, and business, and its integration with economics and management disciplines can cultivate more interdisciplinary talent.
Furthermore, electronics and information categories (such as AI and Integrated Circuit Design and Integration Systems) and computer categories (such as Cyberspace Security and Intelligent Science and Technology) remain among the majors with higher proposed addition numbers. From chips and AI to robotics, biomedicine, and new energy, the layout of newly proposed engineering majors is further segmenting toward key technologies and specific industrial directions. This reflects that university program adjustments are becoming more closely aligned with national strategies and the practical needs of economic and social development.
Looking at the newly proposed majors this time, interdisciplinary subjects have become a new focal point for program layout. Besides Low-Altitude Technology and Engineering, which leads by a significant margin in proposed additions, Embodied Intelligence is also a popular choice. Other proposed interdisciplinary engineering majors, though more dispersed, are notably concentrated in the medical-engineering crossover field. Currently, interdisciplinary fields are also becoming a major source of technological innovation. With the new requirements for cultivating and expanding new quality productive forces, the demand for multi-disciplinary convergence and multi-technology cross-border integration in talent training is becoming increasingly urgent.
To strengthen the coordination and linkage of discipline and program catalogs, promote the organic connection and upward-downward alignment between the undergraduate program catalog and the graduate education discipline catalog, and better adapt to the development of emerging interdisciplinary fields and the demand for cultivating compound talents, the 2026 undergraduate program catalog has, for the first time, included in the "Interdisciplinary" category 11 existing programs such as Future Robotics and Cross-Disciplinary Engineering, along with 4 newly added programs including Embodied Intelligence and Brain-Computer Science and Technology. Ding Changfa believes that with the development of productive forces and emerging industries, the demand for high-level compound talent is growing. Nowadays, the boundaries between many disciplines are becoming blurred and are integrating. Universities are also vigorously striving to cultivate more compound and innovative talents that meet the needs of economic and social development.