A decade and a half ago, Long Island's lone Chipotle sat next to Hofstra's Hempstead campus. Now, they're everywhere.
On campus, the university is hoping for some of the same word-of-mouth popularity to explode with equal revolutionary velocity.
Considered one of its early adopters on Long Island, Hofstra University plans to unleash campuswide access to ChatGPT Edu, an offshoot of the popular AI tool designed specifically for educational institutions.
The initiative aims to empower students and faculty to master tools like ChatGPT, ensuring they meet employer expectations and understand how to use AI creatively, effectively, and most of all, ethically.
“We are making ChatGPT Edu available to the Hofstra community as part of the learning experience at Hofstra,” Hofstra President Susan Poser said in conjunction with her State of the University address on Wednesday, September 17th.
“This cutting-edge technology is now ubiquitous, and we must help students learn how to utilize it as an educational tool and in preparation for their careers.”
This expansion builds on a Spring 2025 pilot program involving select university members.
ChatGPT Edu offers a secure, private and university-managed version of ChatGPT. User data stays confidential and is not used to train OpenAI’s models.
“We’re excited to see Hofstra create an AI-native campus environment where everyone can benefit from AI and no one is left behind,” said Leah Belsky, OpenAI's vice president of education.
“Their campuswide rollout of ChatGPT Edu gives all students the opportunity to build AI literacy and carry those skills into the evolving workforce.”
Adds Mitchell Kase, executive director of Hofstra’s Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, and Assessment: "We look at AI as not a replacement, but as a partner to any work that we do.”
Sure, the guac might be extra; but something that tastes this good makes it all worth it.