The U.S. joined Australia, India and Japan in the Quad Cyber Challenge, a resource-sharing initiative to raise attention around cyber threats against education and government institutions. Education is a key focus of the initiative, as it is now the single-most targeted industry for cyberattacks.

About 30% of the schools qualify as minority-serving institutions and nearly half are rural-serving while the counties that RPUs serve have higher needs—such as low education, low employment, and persistent poverty—compared to counties served by other institutions.

It's been a bright spot for many universities in recent years, but leaders may not be able to hang all their financial hopes on continued growth.

Students increasingly expect their schools to offer academic support, career counseling and even social activities online, according to the 2022 CIN EdTech Student Survey by the College Innovation Network at Western Governors University.