Higher Education Members Identify Top Risks: Risk Management Premium Credit Survey Results 2019-2020

United Educators’ (UE’s) Risk Management Premium Credit (RMPC) program allows eligible members to receive a credit toward their premium by completing a set of risk management activities, including a risk survey about their most pressing risk management concerns.

This comparison of self-reported top risks has been created from responses, provided by nearly 480 higher ed member institutions, to the 2019-2020 survey.

This report highlights the most critical risks facing UE member colleges and universities, and what to do about them.

• The top risk — enrollment — remains unchanged from the 2018-2019 survey, though there have been substantial shifts in the other top risks.
• Among the mitigation efforts institutions can use to curb enrollment issues: evaluate program offerings, change discounting and pricing strategies, and reassess international student enrollment strategy.
• Data security is the second-most common risk, and strategies to mitigate it include increasing firewall protection, hiring more data security staff, and implementing more cybersecurity training.