Artificial Intelligence (AI) is creating a new pressure point for American universities. This comes as demand for data centers increases the value of large properties with access to electricity, water and fiber infrastructure. American universities that have traditionally used such land for classrooms, laboratories and research facilities are increasingly competing with AI infrastructure projects, creating what former George Washington University professor Ellen Scully-Russ described as “a physical threat” to higher education resources.The George Washington (GW) University’s sale of its roughly 120-acre Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, to Amazon Data Services for $427 million is one example of this shift. “Universities are large landholders, and there is a land grab going on with the data centers these days,” Scully-Russ told Fortune. The campus is located in Loudoun County, part of Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley”, a major concentration of data centers.
George Washington University’s $427 million campus sale for AI data center
GW University announced the sale in February but initially did not identify the buyer or disclose the price, citing confidentiality provisions. Amazon Data Services was later identified as the buyer, paying $427 million for the property.The university said the transaction would strengthen its long-term financial position. GW can continue using the campus for up to five years while it determines how to relocate the programmes and offices operating there. A significant portion of the proceeds will be placed into a new endowment, while eligible faculty and staff will receive one-time payments of $2,500 for benefits-eligible full-time faculty and $1,250 for eligible part-time faculty.The sale came as GW faces financial pressures linked to changes in federal research funding, international student policies and broader challenges affecting higher education. The university has said the transaction will support its finances and allow it to invest in its academic mission.Scully-Russ, who joined GW in 2009 to teach and lead a programme at the Virginia campus, said the property struggled to become a central part of the university’s strategy, despite having newer facilities than some at its Washington, DC, campus.“It never really got any legs, in my opinion,” she said.She also described a gradual reduction in resources at the campus over several years, including faculty departures that were not replaced and the eventual elimination of teaching assistants because of budget constraints. She said faculty and students were not informed in advance that the university was considering selling the property.“There was no transparency,” she told Fortune. “The faculty, the student body, as far as I know, were not even aware that there was a discussion about selling to anybody, let alone to Amazon.”GW held town halls after the sale was announced to discuss the transition of programmes, faculty and staff from the campus. Scully-Russ questioned the timing of that consultation.“It’s kind of like, do you really care?” she said. “Did you care what I thought before you made this decision? Did you care to let me know that this was in the works?”However, the George Washington University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Scully-Russ also raised concerns about universities using land for AI infrastructure while federal funding and other financial pressures affect higher education.“We’re chipping away at our higher ed resources to make room for this technology to expand without any accountability,” she told Fortune, “or any other kind of thoughtful progression, which is really a concern for me.”She also questioned the long-term demand for large AI infrastructure projects.“I think it’s just a short-term bubble,” she said. “We’re just one technological leap away from having those huge ugly buildings being obsolete. Then what happens?”
University of Michigan builds $1.25 billion AI computing centre
The University of Michigan is taking a different approach to AI infrastructure through a planned $1.25 billion high-performance computing and research centre in Ypsilanti Township.Developed with Los Alamos National Laboratory, the project is intended to support research in areas including medicine, materials science, clean energy, engineering, and national security. The university describes the facility as a computing centre rather than a commercial data center and says it will support “applying AI and high-performance computing.”The university has acquired land for the project. In 2024, its Board of Regents approved purchases of 19.82 acres and 6.03 acres in Ypsilanti Township for a future computing centre. In 2025, it received authorisation to purchase about 124.7 acres on Textile Road for the facility.The university has also distinguished the project from commercial data centers, saying the facility will focus on scientific research rather than cloud computing, streaming, e-commerce and other consumer or business applications.The planned facility is expected to require about 50 megawatts of power initially, eventually reaching 100 megawatts, according to a university report.The project has faced opposition from local residents and officials. The Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution opposing the proposed computational research facility, “declaring strong and unequivocal opposition.”