UC Berkeley computer science students fail in large numbers, professors cite AI dependence

A dramatic spike in failing grades among computer science students at the University of California, Berkeley has alarmed faculty, who are pointing to an overreliance on artificial intelligence tools and a stark decline in foundational math skills as the primary culprits.

According to data from the campus statistics platform Berkeleytime, the share of students receiving failing grades rose sharply in Spring 2026, with 35.3% of COMPSCI 10 students and 10.6% of COMPSCI 61A students earning F's. Both are technically lower-division introductory courses.

In the previous two spring semesters, 2024 and 2025, fewer than 10% of students in either course received F's.

The electrical engineering and computer sciences department’s grading guidelines state that D and F grades combined should make up about 7% of grades in lower-division courses, including CS 10 and CS 61A.

These figures stand far above the levels recorded over the previous two years. They also drastically exceed the guidelines of Berkeley's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, which aim to keep the share of D and F grades in introductory courses below 7%.

Average grades in both classes plummeted to around 2.3 on a 4.0 scale, equivalent to a C+. In previous semesters, the typical average ranged from 2.8 to 3.3.

AI issues

Professor Dan Garcia, who teaches both courses, said she believes the "primary driver" of these abnormally high failing rates is due to a "vast increase in academic dishonesty" stemming from students' use of large language models like Claude, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini, as he spoke with the student newspaper Daily Californian.

He explained that most students who failed relied too heavily on AI to complete their assignments. This dependency left them without a solid understanding of the core material, ultimately rendering them unable to perform during strictly monitored exams.

In CS 10 alone, nearly 30 students were caught cheating on take-home assessments.

Mathematical preparedness crisis

Falculty members are raising serious concerns about students' mathematical readiness.

Professor Gireeja Ranade told the Daily Californian that her course assumes students already possess a foundation in linear algebra, vector calculus, and mathematical proofs.

During office-hour consultations, however, Ranade discovered that many students were struggling with basic linear algebra.

She was particularly surprised when one student revealed that a previous UC Berkeley course covering the subject had allowed unrestricted use of the internet and AI tools for both assignments and exams.

The UC Berkeley mathematics department later stated it was unaware of any such policy in its courses.

Students at the University of California, Berkeley campus. Photo from the university's Facebook page

The mounting academic issues have prompted more than 1,400 faculty members across the broader University of California system to sign a petition. The open letter, initiated by UC Berkeley mathematicians, was released on May 25 and continues to gather signatures.

The petition urges the reinstatement of standardized test requirements, such as the SAT and ACT, for STEM programs to combat widespread deficiencies in math skills.

"Over the past five years, we have seen a widening divergence in mathematical preparation levels within the same classroom. This trend indicates that current admissions practices do not provide a sufficiently reliable check on mathematical readiness for STEM majors," reads the letter.

To underscore their concerns, the petitioning faculty cited a November report from the University of California San Diego Senate-Administration Workgroup on Admissions.

That report found that the number of first-year students entering with math skills below a middle-school level had increased nearly 30-fold since 2020. Alarmingly, about 70% of those struggling students performed below middle-school standards, accounting for roughly one in 12 members of the entering cohort.

Despite these recent academic challenges, UC Berkeley remains highly prestigious. In the 2026 U.S. News & World Report rankings, the campus is ranked No. 15 overall among National Universities and claims the No. 1 spot among Top Public Schools. It is one of nine campuses in the University of California system, which is widely regarded as the leading public university system in the nation and is specifically renowned for its engineering, computer science, and business programs.