Over the last two decades, the humanities and social sciences have been in retreat on many college campuses, as debt-burdened students have sought better-paying careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and state legislatures and private university boards have pushed to eliminate low-enrollment, low financial return majors. That trend has accelerated with recent federal funding cuts. Meanwhile, universities have been scrambling to beef up their artificial intelligence offerings, while billionaire donors like Mark Zuckerberg have poured money into keeping their alma maters in the AI race. (See Billionaire Givers below.)

But dramatic changes in the job market and a just-announced, record-breaking $125 million gift to Case Western Reserve University from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, suggest a resurgence could be in the offing for the humanities and social sciences, and for programs that produce double majors schooled in both STEM and the humanities.

With the advances in AI, “a traditional STEM degree in a technical discipline is proving to be more fragile than we thought even 10 years ago,” David Gerdes, the dean of Case Western’s College of Arts and Sciences and a renowned physics professor, told Forbes. He argues that the humanities are becoming even more important today, as AI automates much of the work traditionally done in entry-level roles and employers demand such skills as high-level communication, empathy, critical thinking and persistence. Those, he adds, “are what separates humans from machines and what separates workers who cut and paste answers from AI models to workers who are really innovators and leaders.”

Case Western, in Cleveland, was honored earlier this month on Forbes’ 2026 New Ivies list of 10 private and 10 public universities employers love. It has long been known for its strength in STEM, especially its engineering, biomedical engineering and medical programs. And like other New Ivies, it has jumped into AI, tripling the number of its AI course offerings to over 100 across 40 departments. It also began offering an AI minor for engineering students this year, with an AI major in the process of being approved.

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But the majority of the $125 million gift, the largest to higher education in Ohio history according to the school, is going to Case Western’s humanities program, including to........

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