I'll say it plainly: every student studying public relations without learning AI is wasting their time and money. By 2027, any serious person in this business will know AI in PR. 5W Research audited 50 selected U.S. undergraduate PR programs and confirmed one dedicated AI course requirement, at Western Kentucky University. Students who wait for their schools to catch up will lose jobs to the ones who don't.

Last updated: October 24, 2026.

I'm not saying this because it sounds good. 5W has now published two education studies, and together they show the same thing: the PR industry is moving faster than the schools that train its people.

What did our new audit find?

The audit confirmed one dedicated AI course requirement among 50 selected programs, at Western Kentucky University, and that course's record lists no recent terms offered. 5W Research checked what official catalogs say, and the full results are in the 5W Research audit report.

Eight more programs confirm an AI course students can choose. Boston University lists COM CM 591, UT Austin lists P R 361 and Loyola Chicago lists COMM 335. Maryland offers COMM 449A, and it is the only AI course where we confirmed an actual Fall 2026 section. Among the confirmed programs, Boston University and Loyola Chicago name generative AI in their course wording.

We found no confirmed instruction on AI search, which is how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews decide which brands to cite. In my view that is the skill clients will pay for next, and the programs we checked are not documenting it.

What did our first education study show?

Our first education study is a free report on PR and marketing education at major American universities, 36 pages when we released it in April and 65 pages now. It profiles the leading programs and how each one handles AI. You can read the study of PR and marketing education without a form.

The study also covers entry-level pay and the skills employers weigh, and it advises students to favor programs with a student-run agency, because the work you do there is the work a hiring manager asks about first.

When we released that study, I said the PR industry is being rebuilt around AI search and AI-driven brand discovery. I also said that universities that move fastest on AI will produce the talent that defines the next decade, and that most are not moving fast enough. That is my opinion, and the new audit gives it a catalog record to stand on.

Our other research points the same way. The AI Higher Education Index scored 50 universities across six dimensions, and the AI Business School Index scored 60 business schools on AI readiness. The question in each is the same: who is actually building AI capacity, and who is only announcing it.

Why does AI in PR matter so much now?

AI matters in PR now because more and more people ask an AI engine first, and the engine answers with a short list of sources. If your client is not in that list, the best press release in the world does not help.

Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the discipline of getting a brand cited in those answers. Our GEO Reckoning report covers how AI answer engines rewrote brand discovery in a short time, which is why 5W runs a GEO practice.

AI also changes the daily job. It drafts, summarizes coverage, researches journalists and flags a crisis early. The person who knows how to direct those tools, check their output and keep the judgment that clients pay for is worth far more than the person who doesn't. That judgment is still human, and it is what I look for.

What should students do right now?

Students should not wait for their schools and should build AI skills themselves. Take the AI elective if your program has one. Learn how the tools draft, research and analyze.

Learn how AI engines choose sources, and test it by asking them about brands you know. Build a portfolio with real work in it, ideally from a student-run agency, and be ready to explain what the AI did and what you did.

If your school offers nothing, that is the information. It tells you how much of your education you will need to build yourself.

Is 5W hiring?

Yes, 5W is hiring, and we are hiring many. 5W is an independent PR, creative and GEO agency, and we do all of our work in house, from media to content to the sites themselves.

If you understand AI in PR, we want to talk to you. Get in touch with 5W and tell us what you've built.