The Education Magazine
October 19, 2026
Stanford University is introducing new classroom practices in response to growing artificial intelligence (AI) use among students. Stanford’s COLLEGE program (Civic, Liberal, and Global Education), a mandatory undergraduate program, is bringing back handwritten assignments, introducing reading quizzes, and recommending screen-free classes. The university’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) is also encouraging in-class writing, paper annotations, and journaling. These changes aim to help students demonstrate their understanding independently as instructors reconsider how AI affects academic work.
The new Stanford AI Policies address concerns about students’ engagement with course material and their interactions with faculty. The university is changing how instructors assess learning while also examining AI’s role in education.
How Are New Stanford AI Policies Changing Classroom Assignments?
Stanford’s COLLEGE program is introducing handwritten work and regular assessments to help instructors check students’ understanding of course material.
In Stanford’s COLLEGE 102 program, students will write responses to in-class prompts during the winter term. COLLEGE program’s Associate Director Sara Mrsny said the assignments are intended to ensure students complete the work themselves rather than rely on AI.
Stanford’s COLLEGE 101 program has introduced reading quizzes to check whether students have read assigned texts rather than relied on AI-generated summaries. The program’s associate director, Sara Mrsny, said the quizzes are intended to
“verify that students are reading the original texts”
assigned by instructors.
Why Is Stanford Encouraging Screen-Free College Classrooms?
Stanford’s COLLEGE program is recommending screen-free college classrooms after students and faculty reported better discussions without laptop distractions.
Director Mrsny said students felt the
“quality of discussion was much higher when they were speaking face-to-face, undistracted by screens.”
The New Stanford AI policies follow an earlier change in COLLEGE 101, where students took a handwritten blue-book examination instead of completing a traditional final essay at home.
PWR is also encouraging less technology-dependent activities. Some lecturers are introducing in-class writing, handwritten annotations, and journaling to help students work directly with texts and develop their own arguments. However, COLLEGE’s screen-free recommendation is not a university-wide ban on laptops or digital learning tools.
What Does Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric AI Policy Restrict?
Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric AI policy prohibits students from using generative AI or large language models to compose or revise drafts for major assignments in PWR courses.
Writing and Rhetoric AI policy prohibitions cover AI-generated phrases, sentences, and longer passages, as well as paraphrases of AI-generated writing or source material. Students must engage with original research sources instead of substituting AI-generated summaries for direct reading.
PWR instructors can also set additional rules for using AI in brainstorming, preliminary research, and classroom activities. Students must follow the requirements in their course syllabuses and assignment instructions. Violations of the PWR policy are considered Honor Code violations and can involve Stanford’s Office of Community Standards.
How Is AI Use Affecting Student Learning at Stanford?
Stanford’s classroom changes come amid concerns about student performance and engagement with faculty.
Stanford’s vice provost for undergraduate education, Jay Hamilton, reported that students’ problem-set scores have improved while their final-examination scores have declined. He also said students have been attending fewer office-hour sessions than in previous years.
Vice Provost Hamilton raised concerns that students may turn to AI instead of seeking guidance from faculty. He emphasized the importance of direct academic support, saying,
“You can’t get mentored if you don’t show up at office hours.”
Some students may feel embarrassed about asking questions, while AI assistants are available at any time. He expressed concern that students could miss mentoring opportunities by relying on AI instead of speaking directly with instructors.
However, the reported trends do not establish that AI alone caused changes in examination results or office-hour attendance.
How Is Stanford Adding AI to Its Curriculum?
Stanford is also addressing AI through course content. COLLEGE 101 has introduced a unit examining AI’s effects on education and the good life.
The course includes Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which Mrsny identified as a way to explore the social responsibilities of technology developers.
Cassandra Volpe Horii, Stanford’s associate vice provost for education and director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, expects academic programs to develop learning outcomes covering human skills, AI skills, and work that combines both.
What Do New Stanford AI Policies Mean for Higher Education?
The new Stanford AI policies show how universities are reconsidering assessments and classroom practices as generative AI becomes more common. Handwritten assignments, reading quizzes, and screen-free teaching recommendations offer ways to assess understanding, while PWR’s formal guidelines establish boundaries for AI-assisted writing.
The New Stanford AI Policies do not amount to a university-wide ban on AI. Instead, they seek to preserve students’ independent work while preparing them to understand the technology. For higher education, the challenge is to integrate AI without losing the critical thinking, direct reading, and faculty interaction that support student learning.
Also Read: Harvard Endowment Growth Reaches Nearly $68 Billion After Strong Returns
