Research Analysis · Generative AI in Higher Education
Syllabi Policies for Generative AI — Repository Analysis
Interactive analysis of 212 course syllabi policies across disciplines, categorized by use type and creative field applicability.
212
Total Policies
75+
Disciplines
5
Use Categories
8
Art / Design / Creative Courses
About This Database
This interactive database contains 212 generative AI policies drawn from course syllabi across more than 75 academic disciplines. Policies were collected and compiled by Lance Eaton, Ph.D. (Anchor Insights Consultants) and cover institutions ranging from community colleges to research universities. View the source: Syllabi Policies for Generative AI Repository.
How to Use It
The database is organized into six sections, navigable from the menu bar. Overview shows how policies distribute across four use types — click any category card to filter the browser to that group. Common Elements lists recurring themes across the corpus; click any row to surface matching policies. Findings summarizes six headline takeaways, each linked to the relevant view. Art & Design focuses on policies from creative disciplines. The Policy Browser lets you filter all 212 entries by discipline, category, element, or keyword, and expand any card to read the full original text. Finally, Custom Analysis lets you define your own use case — enter a name and keywords, and the tool scans all 212 policies for occurrences, returning keyword frequencies, top disciplines, and a category breakdown, with a one-click handoff to the Policy Browser.
Section 01
Policy Coverage by Use Category
Click any category card to cross-filter the Policy Browser — showing only policies that reference that use type.
83%
176 of 212 policies
General Use
Broad permission or prohibition; definitions of acceptable vs. unacceptable use; overall AI stance.
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71%
151 of 212 policies
Writing & Editing
Grammar, proofreading, revision, formatting, drafting, and editing assistance.
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46%
98 of 212 policies
Ideation
Brainstorming, idea generation, outlining, conceptualizing starting points.
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58%
124 of 212 policies
Creation & Production
Generating final content, AI-produced text/images as deliverables, submission rules.
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26%
56 of 212 policies
Research
Topic exploration, literature review, information gathering, fact-checking and verification.
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Note: policies may appear in multiple categories. Percentages reflect share of all 212 policies addressing each type.
Section 02
Common Elements Across All Policies
Recurring themes found across the full corpus. Click an element row to highlight matching policies in the browser. Sort by frequency or alphabetically.
Section 03
Key Findings
Six headline takeaways from the analysis. Click any finding to jump to the relevant section.
01
Disclosure is the dominant mechanism — 50% of all policies require students to cite or acknowledge AI use, ahead of outright prohibition (30%).
02
Brainstorming is the most-permitted use — 65% of ideation-category policies explicitly permit AI for idea generation. Yet ideation is the least-addressed category overall (46%).
03
Bans spike in Creation & Production — 45% of policies addressing final work creation prohibit fully AI-generated submissions, nearly double the overall ban rate.
04
Ideation is the policy gap — fewer than half of policies address brainstorming/ideation despite it being among the most commonly permitted and student-used AI applications.
05
Creative disciplines are mostly restrictive — 6 of 8 art/design/creative courses prioritize original authorship. Only Delft's IDEM307 fully integrates AI tools with required documentation.
06
Copyright is severely underaddressed — only 8% of policies mention copyright or IP, a striking gap given AI image generators and training-data debates in creative fields.
Section 04
Art, Design & Creative Studio Courses
Eight courses from directly creative disciplines (Arts, Design, Film, Media, Music, Theatre). Click any card to expand the full policy text.
8
Art / Design / Creative discipline policies
6 of 8
Require citation or disclosure of AI use
2 of 8
Explicitly permit AI as part of workflow
Section 05
Policy Browser
Browse all 212 policies. Filter by discipline, category, or keyword. Click any card to expand and read the full policy text.
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Section 06
Custom Use Case Analysis
Define your own use case and scan all 212 policies for occurrences. Enter a name, then type keywords or phrases (one per line or comma-separated) that define your use case.