Education Institutions Face Persistent Enrollment and Safety Pressures, New Risk Reports Show

Enrollment challenges and physical security concerns dominate the risk landscape across U.S. education institutions, according to separate 2026 risk surveys from United Educators covering 481 schools and colleges combined.

The education sector shows both stability and significant shifts in its risk priorities. Admissions and retention remain the top risk concerns for both K-12 schools and colleges, reflecting ongoing pressure from enrollment declines and increased competition. This issue has consistently ranked first for K-12 institutions since the 2020-21 academic year, the survey report noted.

While nine of the 10 top risks identified by K-12 schools remained the same as the prior year, several risks gained prominence. Public safety concerns surged among K-12 institutions, rising six percentage points to claim the second position, while facilities and deferred maintenance issues also climbed in the top 10 rankings to No. 4. These shifts signal growing urgency around physical infrastructure and campus security preparedness, according to UE.

Higher education institutions, meanwhile, face a broader spectrum of emerging risks. Data security and cybersecurity climbed to the second position overall, reflecting mounting digital threats. Higher education also grapples with regulatory complexity that has intensified dramatically—compliance issues beyond Title IX jumped to third place from eighth, primarily driven by the pace of federal policy changes affecting colleges and universities.

K-12 Schools Navigate Competitive Enrollment and Safety Challenges

For K-12 institutions, the top risks paint a picture of institutions competing for students while managing aging facilities and complex workforce demands, according to the report. Beyond admissions and public safety, operational pressures rank third among K-12 schools, driven by tuition pricing challenges and cost management concerns.

Facilities and deferred maintenance represent the fourth-ranked risk, indicating widespread infrastructure concerns, and data security/cybersecurity ranked fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 risks for K-12 institutions:

• Student mental health, cited by 21%.
• Vehicle accidents, 20%.
• Recruitment and hiring, 19%.
• Protecting minors, 17%.
• Employee misconduct, 14%.

Higher Education Institutions Confront Regulatory and Financial Pressure

Higher education institutions face a distinctly different risk profile, with financial pressures weaving through multiple top-ranked concerns, according to the report. For example, operational pressures ranked fourth, facilities and deferred maintenance ranked fifth, and funding and financial stability jumped to sixth place.

UE asked higher education survey respondents to choose the biggest challenge for their institution’s risk management operations, and the top pick was lack of financial resources, cited by 29%.

Compliance issues emerged as a major focus area for higher education, driven largely by rapid federal regulatory changes. Title IX, long a top concern for higher education institutions, dropped out of the top 10 entirely—now ranking 12th—as institutions gained greater clarity on their obligations, allowing attention to shift to other regulatory pressures.

Remaining top risks for higher education were:

• Student mental health, cited by22%.
• Recruitment and hiring, 20%
• Public safety, 17%
• Athletics, 11%

Athletics represents an entirely new challenge for higher education, entering the top 10 for the first time as colleges grapple with name, image, and likeness regulations and related complexities. Despite the emergence of NIL as an operational concern, responses suggest modest integration into enterprise risk management at most institutions, with about half having dedicated staff to manage it.

Obtain the two top risk reports here. &