Which Generative-AI Tools Do College Students Use Most?

ChatGPT is the clear leader among college students using generative artificial intelligence, but the market is already broader than a one-tool story. Primary Research Group's Survey of College Students 2025 found that 64.77% of respondents had used ChatGPT during the previous month. Microsoft Copilot ranked a distant second at 15.46%, followed by Google Gemini at 13.60% and Claude at 5.77%. Image and newer conversational tools registered smaller shares: 1.66% for Midjourney and 0.98% for Grok.

Use also differed sharply by institution. ChatGPT use reached 79.35% among students at colleges charging more than $20,000 in tuition, compared with 53.93% at institutions charging less than $6,000. That gap suggests access, campus culture, academic field and the visibility of paid or institutionally supported tools may shape adoption.

Students do not view AI literacy as a passing concern. In the survey, 59.24% considered learning to use generative AI somewhat to very important. Interest was especially strong among students at private colleges, higher-income students and those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Psychology majors reported the greatest amount of time using the tools.

For colleges and academic libraries, the management implication is straightforward: a ChatGPT-only policy or training program will miss part of actual student behavior. Institutions need guidance that travels across platforms—source verification, disclosure, privacy, citation and appropriate use—while still showing students how the leading systems differ.

The most useful campus benchmark is therefore not simply whether students use AI. It is which students use which tools, how frequently they use them and where unequal access may create unequal academic advantage.