The 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10, Part 3: Turning Insights Into Action

In Parts 1 and 2 of our 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10 series, we explored how culture, tools, and processes can help institutions evolve from reactive problem-solving to proactive innovation. Higher education has done the hard work of modernizing its tools, data, and culture. Now comes the next step: using them.

The final three trends in the 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10—From Reactive to Proactive, AI-Enabled Efficiencies and Growth, and Decision-Maker Data Skills and Literacy—reflect higher education’s growing focus on agility, optimization, and readiness for an unpredictable future. They also highlight how institutions can leverage better forecasting, smarter AI use, and stronger data literacy to actively shape their futures.

8. From Reactive to Proactive

For years, many institutions have been forced into reactive decision-making, responding to enrollment declines, funding challenges, and shifting compliance regulations after they occur. Today, however, the technology and data now available to institutions make it possible to model, forecast, and plan ahead with greater accuracy.

Moving from reactive to proactive means using data for scenario modeling, forecasting, and prediction to strengthen institutional agility. With modern analytics, leaders can anticipate enrollment shifts, predict budget pressures, and simulate the impact of strategic decisions before implementation.

This year, institutions should focus on:

• Building Predictive Models: Use institutional data to identify early warning signs of enrollment dips, retention risks, or financial pressures.
• Integrating Forecasting Into Planning: Make predictive insights a standard part of budget and strategic planning cycles.
• Creating Cross-Functional Teams: Enhance agility by forming decision-making groups that can act quickly on data insights to test and implement solutions.
• Prioritizing Transparency: Track and share outcomes from proactive initiatives to build institutional knowledge and confidence in predictive tools.

Discover how CIOs and CTOs are prioritizing data for better outcomes!

9. AI-Enabled Efficiencies and Growth

From automating repetitive administrative workflows to identifying student success trends, artificial intelligence presents an opportunity to accelerate growth and innovation. Institutions that have realized this are already using AI to reduce operational costs, streamline processes, and improve strategic and business decision-making. For campus leaders, the challenge now lies in ensuring that AI use is intentional and that tools are deployed where they drive genuine efficiency and value.

This year, institutions should focus on:

• Mapping Opportunities for Automation: Identify processes—like reporting or scheduling—that could be automated for faster outcomes.
• Combining AI With Human Oversight: Ensure all AI implementations come with clear human checkpoints.
• Linking AI Programs to Strategic Goals: Align AI initiatives with broader institutional priorities, not just convenience or novelty.
• Measuring Efficiency Gains: Track time savings, accuracy improvements, and cost reductions to assess impact. 

Download our how-to guide for responsible AI adoption in higher education.

10. Decision-Maker Data Skills and Literacy

Even with access to sophisticated analytics tools, many institutions still face a gap between data availability and data understanding. Decision-makers—presidents, provosts, deans, department heads, for example—need more than dashboards; they need the skills to interpret data confidently and act on it strategically.

Enhancing data literacy at the leadership level ensures that insights translate and trickle down into effective action. When institutional leaders are fluent in data, they make better, faster, and more collaborative decisions.

This year, institutions should focus on:

• Adopting Executive Data Training: Provide data interpretation workshops tailored to leadership roles and responsibilities.
• Building Shared Data Language: Standardize definitions, metrics, and dashboards so all leaders work from a common understanding.
• Eliminating Barriers to Access: Enable leadership and staff to access shared data and the same analytics support, including training, policies, and workshops.
• Investing in Visualization: Leverage tools that make it easy for team members of all technical levels to visualize data trends and make informed decisions.

Learn how Jenzabar Analytics helps you harness your data for better decision making.

Looking Ahead: From Insights to Impacts

As the 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10 makes clear, the conversation is no longer about access to technology—it’s about using that technology to anticipate challenges, strengthen institutional resilience, and empower data-driven leadership.

With the right culture, tools, and skills in place, institutions can shape a stronger, smarter future for higher education.