Each summer, Carnegie surveys thousands of students and parents to better understand what drives college decision-making. This year’s Summer Research Series is built around responses from more than 3,400 prospective students and parents, offering insights across four key themes: politics and college perceptions, college choice trends, personality-driven communication, and the role of AI in admissions.
The college search process is a complex and often overwhelming undertaking, but with the rise of AI, it is beginning to transform the way students explore their higher education options. Results from Carnegie’s 2025 May Deadline Survey show that more students than ever are using AI to inform their college search process. In this blog post, we’ll explore AI use by students for college search and application materials, AI rules in high schools, the prevalence of AI use in high schools, and perceptions on the increase in access to and use of AI tools.
For the third entry in Carnegie’s Summer Research Series, we analyzed these May 2025 survey responses from more than 3,400 prospective students and parents about the use of AI tools and technologies in both their personal lives and the college search.
AI in College Search and Application Materials
Use of AI in the college search process is accelerating rapidly. In 2023, just 4% of seniors reported using AI tools like ChatGPT to explore colleges. That figure climbed to 10% in 2024 and now stands at 23% in 2025. Other audience groups included in the study show similarly high adoption rates: 25% of rising students report using AI in the college search, while parents remain slightly lower at 21%. For further information on media usage among audiences, check out the College Choice Trends report of the 2025 Summer Research Series.
Among graduating seniors, 35% of Asian students, 25% of students with slightly conservative political views, and 30% of students identifying as religious reported using AI for college search. This was above the percentage for all graduating seniors at 23%.
For rising students, 30% of Asian students, 26% of students with strongly conservative political views, and 25% of students identifying as religious reported using AI for college search. This was above the percentage for all rising students at 20%
Additionally, in this year’s study, Carnegie asked graduating students if they had ever used AI to help them prepare entrance materials such as college application essays. Overall, 14% of graduating seniors reported using AI to prepare entrance materials. While a relatively small number, some breakout groups that stood out were students with slightly conservative political views, and students identifying as religious at 18%.
As seen in the report, the usage of AI in the college search process among students continues to grow and shows no signs of stopping. Leveraging this information on how students are using AI in college search and entrance materials, coupled with using AI to foster more authentic student engagement, could be a recipe for success.
High School Policies About AI
In both the 2024 and 2025 reports, Carnegie asked graduating seniors if teachers or administrators at respondents’ high schools spoke or created rules regarding AI. The results have shown a significant increase in AI-specific guidelines at the high school level, with 42% of graduating seniors having a formal school-wide policy, up from 27% in 2024. The rising student audience was even more likely than graduating seniors to report that their schools had a formal policy concerning AI at 46%.
In contrast, parents are often less aware of the rules in place at their children’s schools, with only 28% reporting knowing about their child’s teacher having AI rules and 34% reporting that their child’s school has a formal policy. This highlights a potential communication gap that may affect how they help guide students’ use of AI in school and at home.
A clear trend indicates that AI is being increasingly discussed within schools, even without formal policies in place. The percentage of students reporting no AI discussions has significantly decreased from 14% in 2024 to just 4% for rising students and 6% for graduating seniors in 2025. This suggests a growing emphasis on addressing AI through school-wide or classroom conversations.
AI Activity in Schools
Similar to asking about AI policies within schools, we also asked student audiences about perceptions of how often students talked about and/or used AI for their classwork. For graduating seniors 7% reported never hearing of students using AI, 26% reported hearing of a few students using AI, 40% reported hearing of several students using AI, and 24% reported most of the students are using AI. Rising students reported similar numbers, with 8% reported never having heard of students using AI, 33% heard of a few students using AI, 40% heard of several students using AI, and 19% most of the students are using AI.
In contrast, there’s a stark generational divide in awareness. While only about 7–8% of students say they’ve “never heard” of classmates using AI in school, 26% of parents report having no awareness that students are using AI at all. As expected, this type of gap often accompanies new media adoption. However, without proactive parent engagement, this disconnect can affect how families support students in making ethical, informed technology choices during high school and the college search process.
Affinity Toward AI
When asking all audiences about how positively or negatively they felt about the increase in access to and use of AI tools, several key themes emerged. While AI use is increasing rapidly, sentiment toward AI remains conflicted. Only 6% of graduating seniors, and 4% of rising students and parents reported feeling strongly positive about AI technology. These figures are largely consistent with previous years, indicating that despite a sharp increase in AI usage, public sentiment has remained cautious and largely unchanged.
Respondents were asked to follow up on why they felt either positive or negative about AI. While many acknowledge that AI can be useful in certain contexts, concerns about its long-term impact on learning persist throughout qualitative responses. Parents, in particular, see AI as inevitable, something to plan for thoughtfully rather than resist. Students are more focused on the broader societal effects, voicing anxiety about how AI could affect job prospects and environmental sustainability. Similar findings about AI’s potential negative impacts were expressed among students in a report written by Common Sense Media, Hopelab, and Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Most comments reveal a more grounded—sometimes skeptical—view, suggesting greater familiarity with both the risks and potential benefits. Audiences are increasingly aware that AI is not inherently good or bad, but rather a powerful force that must be carefully integrated into education and society.
Stay Informed All Summer Long
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