Generative AI (GenAI) has moved from novelty to infrastructure in higher education, but until now, most of what the field knows about that shift has come from research centered on 4-year universities. Using a large-scale survey codesigned with student leaders, WestEd examined how California Community College students are using GenAI, how much they trust it, what barriers they face, and what they want from their colleges in response.

The Challenge

California’s 116 community colleges serve one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the country, including large shares of first-generation, working, older, and English Learner students. Yet as GenAI reshapes how students research, write, and study, nearly everything colleges and policymakers know about that shift comes from data centered on 4-year universities. If decisions about GenAI access, policy, and instruction are made without CCC-specific evidence, they risk getting those decisions wrong for the students who make up a defining share of California’s higher education system. Specifically, CCC faculty, administrators, and system leaders needed to know the answers to the following questions:

• Who is using GenAI, who is not, and why—is nonuse about cost and awareness or about trust and policy uncertainty?
• How much do students trust what GenAI produces, and how confident are they in using it well?
• Do students and instructors agree on where GenAI belongs in coursework—from tutoring and accessibility support to grading and feedback?
• What kind of institutional support—policy clarity, training, or tool access—would actually change student behavior?

How We’re Taking Action

WestEd, in partnership with student leaders from the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and with review from the Chancellor’s Office for California Community Colleges AI Council, conducted the Student Voices on GenAI Survey—one of the first large-scale efforts to ask CCC students directly about their experiences with GenAI. The survey collected responses from 3,595 consenting students at dozens of colleges across the state.

The study produced three primary findings. First, the access divide is driven by trust and policy concerns, not cost or awareness: Among students who have not used GenAI, just 7 percent cited cost and 18 percent cited unfamiliarity with the tools, while more than half cited distrust of outputs or concern about academic integrity—which means that expanding access alone is unlikely to close the adoption gap.

Second, there is an age-adoption gap: Students 40 and older use GenAI at meaningfully higher rates (56%) than students under 30 (about 40%)—the reverse of the common assumption that younger, traditional-age students are quicker to adopt new technology—with direct implications for how outreach and professional development should be targeted.

Third, there is the policy-clarity paradox: While 74 percent of students say they clearly understand what their college allows regarding GenAI use, only 61 percent say that this knowledge has actually changed their study habits—suggesting that policy clarity alone will not resolve student uncertainty.

The survey also examined GenAI’s role in accessibility. Among students whose disability or learning differences affect their educational experience, more than half found GenAI helpful or very helpful for their learning needs—though uncertainty about whether instructors would accept GenAI as an accommodation was itself a significant, and addressable, barrier.

Resources

• Listening to Students First: What California Community College Learners Are Telling Us About GenAI, Equity, and Learning