A New Top 10 Risk Enters the Arena

HigherEdRisk Editorial

My first post of the New Year was about my predictions for the 2026 Top Risks for Higher Education. To follow up on this post, I want to highlight one of my favorite resources, <a target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="text-primary underline cursor-pointer XAIccGRXYGJrKwyyJYDCGhNgTWY " href="https://www.ue.org/globalassets/risk-management/reports/top-risks-report-he-2026.pdf">United Educators' 2026 Top Risks Report</a>.This report is essential reading for all higher education risk managers, executives, boards, and trustees. While some of the risks have been on this list for years, such as cyber and deferred maintenance, a new one has appeared in the top ten for the first time. It is Athletics Risk with a focus on Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) in college sports.<h3>So what does this mean?</h3>Colleges and universities already face a myriad of risks impacting their finances, and NIL is just another hurdle to add to these challenges, never mind the increased liability risk in this uncertain legislative and regulatory environment. However, I wanted to know more about why UE members added this risk to the list.To dig deeper, I attended a UE webinar that presented key information on this risk. The webinar included a lot of information, especially in the legal arena. Presenters Andrea Barton Stolpe, Partner, Miller Nash LLP; Max Forer, Partner, Miller Nash LLP; and Melanie Bennett (Moderator), Senior Risk Management Counsel, UE, did a great job of breaking down this emerging risk into actionable intelligence.<h3>Key Insights:</h3>To start, this topic is dense. There is so much complexity in this space, especially in the legal environment. I cited a few examples below:<ul><li>Unresolved Title IX compliance concerns remain.</li><li>In addition to federal laws, states have also taken varying approaches to NIL, creating competitive advant