The School of Education at the University of California, Irvine, has been awarded a $10 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. This funding will establish the National Center for Writing Research to Improve Teaching Effectiveness with Generative AI, known as the WRITE AI Center.
Announced on August 27, 2026, the grant was the sole award made through the IES’s national competition for a research and development center focused on using generative artificial intelligence to improve instruction in postsecondary education.
Led by Mark Warschauer, a Distinguished Professor of education at UCI, the WRITE AI Center will direct a national effort. The center aims to address how AI can improve student learning while ensuring students continue to develop essential writing, critical thinking, and communication skills. Over the next five years, it will empower researchers, educators, and policymakers from across the country to develop and evaluate evidence-based approaches for using AI in postsecondary writing instruction.
Warschauer, who also serves as the principal investigator and director, stated the center’s goal is to help educators use AI to expand access to excellent writing instruction through more personalized support. Dean Julie Washington of the School of Education noted that UCI being selected to lead this national center reflects the university’s commitment to addressing pressing questions in higher education.
A central focus of the center’s research will involve community colleges, which serve approximately 40 percent of the nation’s undergraduate students, including a large number of first-generation learners, working adults, and veterans. These colleges often face limited resources to provide individualized writing instruction. The center will work alongside faculty and students to explore how AI can expand access to timely, personalized feedback, complementing rather than replacing instructors’ roles. Tamara Tate, co-principal investigator, emphasized that students need guidance on when, why, and how to use AI, beyond just access to the technology.
The WRITE AI Center brings together a national partnership, including MDRC; the California Community Colleges’ Digital Center for Innovation, Transformation and Equity; three California community colleges; the Virginia Community College System; and Houston City College. The center will also develop practical resources and guidance for colleges. The five-year program of work is scheduled to begin on September 1.
