2026 Cybersecurity Trends to Watch in Higher Education

In an open call last month, we asked education and industry leaders for their predictions on the cybersecurity landscape for schools, districts, colleges, and universities in 2026. Here’s what they told us.

AI-Driven Identity Fraud and Enrollment Risk

“AI and cybersecurity are no longer separable topics; AI tools now both enable sophisticated attacks and support new defenses. Criminal groups are already using bots and AI-generated identities to create ‘ghost students’ who enroll, receive aid, and disappear. I suspect colleges and universities will see thousands of fake applications and millions in losses. In response, federal agencies are rolling out stricter identity verification requirements for federal student aid, including government-issued ID checks and enhanced fraud analytics. Institutions that can’t keep up will likely be required to repay fraudulent disbursements. These risks are amplified in online and hybrid environments, where all interactions and documents are digital. That makes it incredibly easy to replicate or forge with AI. Deep fake documents and AI-written coursework make traditional manual screening and faculty ‘gut checks’ insufficient, especially at scale. Institutions will need multilayered defenses that combine stronger identity verification and behavioral analytics to spot bot-like patterns.” — Nick Swayne, president, North Idaho College

Centralizing Security and Privacy Oversight

“As AI-assisted attacks become more sophisticated, organizations will need to strengthen both their technical defenses and their human readiness. Privacy and security will increasingly depend on a combined strategy that pairs effective software safeguards with ongoing staff training. Given the time and resource constraints facing technology teams, institutions will need to adopt centralized reviews of all apps and platforms, assessing them alongside their privacy and security documentation. Aligning these tools with procurement policies centered on privacy, security, interoperability, accessibility, and gen AI will shift from a recommended practice to an essential one. This approach provides clear visibility into what technologies are in use and what commitments vendors make. By taking this more disciplined approach, institutions can make informed decisions before renewing contracts or purchasing new tools, ultimately strengthening their overall risk management.” — Curtiss Barnes, CEO, 1EdTech

Risk Operations and AI-Powered Defense

“As cyber attacks become more targeted and foreign adversary attacks increase, 2026 will challenge how education organizations protect the people behind their networks — students, their families, and faculty. Adversaries will evolve their tactics, targeting tuition payments, personal data, research files, and digital classroom platforms with precision. AI-generated phishing and deepfake scams will increase, blurring the boundaries between legitimate communication and deception, thereby endangering student trust and public safety. In response, many institutions will benefit from Risk Operations Centers (ROCs) as a modern evolution of traditional security operations using agentic AI. ROCs at higher education organizations will consolidate data across campus systems to mitigate cybersecurity risks in real time, prioritize threats, and coordinate faster, smarter AI-driven risk management. In 2026, proactive and strategic risk management measures will strengthen not only data protection in higher education but also restore trust across campus networks, safeguarding the lives of students and faculty who depend on secure digital access for education, research and communication.” — Jonathan Trull, CISO and senior vice president for security solution architecture, Qualys