Knowing the Rules Is Not Enough: Student Regulatory Awareness and Use of GenAI in Higher Education

Context: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT are increasingly integrated into students learning practices. While previous research mainly examines adoption rates and attitudes, students awareness of institutional regulations and their perceived compliance remain unexplored. Understanding whether regulatory awareness influences student behavior is therefore important as higher education institutions create and apply AI policies. Objective: This study investigates how students awareness of GenAI regulations relates to their perceived compliance and actual usage behavior. Our research objective is to examine the association between regulatory knowledge, GenAI use, and perceived rule conformity among students in computer science related study programs. Method: A survey with 151 undergraduate students in Business Information Systems and E-Government programs at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover (Germany) collected data on GenAI usage, tools used, awareness of institutional regulations, and perceived compliance. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, and correlation analyzes were applied. Results: Most students actively use GenAI tools, but over half are uncertain whether their usage complies with institutional regulations. Regulatory awareness shows only weak to moderate associations with actual usage behavior. Students primarily rely on privately accessed GenAI tools rather than institutionally provided solutions. Contributions: The study contributes empirical evidence on the relationship between regulatory awareness and GenAI usage in higher education. Our findings highlight a gap between institutional regulations and student practices and provide insights for educators and institutions on improving policy communication and integrating GenAI more effectively into teaching and learning contexts.