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Enrollment regained its place as the biggest risk for colleges and universities, according to the latest Top Risks Report from United Educators, named by 71 percent of survey respondents. That’s up from 67 percent last year.
Data security, which topped the 2023 list, came in second and clocked the biggest decline, from 73 percent to 56 percent.
Operational pressures related to business model and financial stability were named the third biggest risk, cited by 42 percent, followed by recruitment and hiring (31 percent).
In fifth place, regulatory and legal compliance (unrelated to Title IX and the Violence Against Women Act) saw the biggest increase, from 21 percent to 29 percent—a jump the report says “may reflect federal and state governments’ increased attention on higher education.”
Rounding out the list were facilities and deferred maintenance, student mental health, funding, and public safety, which cracked the top 10 for the first time. So did “general premises safety”—the risk of injury or death caused by slips, trips and other campus hazards—which tied for 10th along with Title IX and political and social pressures, a new entry.
The report is based on responses from officials at 194 higher education institutions who completed the survey between August and December of last year.
