Colleges that buy generic institutional AI subscriptions without a coherent deployment plan are passing costs—and gaps in access—onto students, higher‑education analysts warned. Institutional AI rollouts vary widely and many faculty and staff report uncertainty about official policies for use, creating inconsistent student experiences and compliance risks. A separate survey finds a workforce “AI disconnect”: most university employees use AI tools, but many are unsure how leadership expects them to apply those tools. The mismatch heightens legal and pedagogical risk around assessment, equity and privacy, and it forces instructional leaders to scramble for professional learning and governance frameworks. Institutions must translate procurement into access policies, training, and alignment with learning outcomes or risk degraded student services and uneven educational value. Provosts and CIOs should prioritize tool inventories, student access strategies, and clear academic‑integrity guidance when contracting AI services. Clarification: “Institutional subscription” refers to university‑level vendor access to LLMs or generative AI platforms; alone it does not guarantee equitable student access, training, or curricular integration.