AI Adoption and Governance in Latin American and Caribbean Higher Education: Findings from a Regional Survey

Abstract

This article presents findings from a regional survey of 200 higher education institutions across 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), conducted between August and October 2025. Drawing on a theoretical framework grounded in the three-mission model of the university and the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, the study maps AI adoption across teaching and learning, research, administration, and community engagement and examines the institutional readiness and governance conditions that shape how AI is being integrated. The results reveal a clear hierarchy of adoption, with teaching and learning leading at 73.5%, followed by research (57.0%), administration (34.1%), and community engagement (20.0%). Governance conditions lag far behind: only 26.0% of institutions have a formal AI strategy, 18.5% have institution-wide policies, 8.0% have a dedicated AI budget, and just 9.0% have formal evaluation mechanisms. The study identifies a persistent public-private divide, a structural vulnerability in specialized universities, significant student protection gaps, and a monitoring deficit that makes institutional accountability difficult. The cross-cutting finding is that AI adoption in the region is being driven by motivated individuals operating within institutions that have not yet built the frameworks to govern what those individuals are achieving.