Every year, EDUCAUSE publishes a list of the Top 10 Issues Facing Higher Education. These are trends and challenges experts believe will become all the more relevant in the coming year for colleges and universities.

We are proud to offer FlightPath, an enterprise-level advising and student success system, built from the ground-up to be full-featured while still easy-to-use, fully customizable, and affordable for schools of every size. Keep reading to see how FlightPath addresses each of the 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10.

1. Collaborative Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity in higher education depends on shared responsibility, secure systems, and clear access controls. FlightPath is hosted on modern cloud infrastructure and designed with strong security practices from the ground up. Role based permissions, secure integrations, and single sign on support help institutions protect sensitive student data while enabling appropriate access for advisors, faculty, and staff.

2. The Human Edge of Artificial Intelligence

As artificial intelligence becomes more common across campus systems, institutions must ensure that AI supports human decision making rather than replacing it. FlightPath uses non-LLM based AI for advanced analytics and predictive indicators to surface insights about student engagement and risk, but always keeps advisors and staff in control of final decisions.

3. Data Analytics for Operational and Financial Insights

Higher education leaders increasingly rely on analytics to understand enrollment trends, advising capacity, and student outcomes. FlightPath provides built in reporting that help institutions analyze advising activity, student progress, enrollment trends, and more. Additional reports are easy to build and customize.

4. Building a Data Centric Culture Across the Institution

Siloed data remains a challenge on many campuses. FlightPath helps break down those silos by centralizing student success, advising, and engagement data into a single platform.

5. Knowledge Management for Safer AI and Better Governance

Effective data governance and knowledge management are essential for privacy and compliance, especially when it comes to AI. FlightPath stores student and advising data in a consistent, documented way that supports transparency and accountability. Additionally, our AI analytics are built entirely from scratch, and does not make use of any outside LLMs (like ChatGPT), to better ensure the safety and privacy of students and staff alike.

6. Measured Approaches to New Technologies

Institutions are under pressure to adopt new technologies while managing costs and complexity. FlightPath Academics is proud to offer scalable web-based software that integrates with existing campus systems. This measured approach allows institutions to realize value quickly, reduce long term maintenance burdens, and make technology investments based on outcomes, instead of trends.

7. Technology Literacy for the Future Workforce

Technology literacy is a critical outcome for both students and staff. Through the use of FlightPath, advisors develop skills in interpreting analytics, managing digital workflows, and using data to guide student conversations.

Students benefit from intuitive planning and communication tools that mirror modern workplace technologies, helping prepare them for careers that demand comfort with digital systems and data informed processes.

8. Moving from Reactive to Proactive Student Support

One of the most significant shifts in higher education technology is the move from reactive to proactive support models. FlightPath enables this shift through predictive indicators, early alerts, and engagement tracking that identifies potential student challenges before they fall behind. Advisors and support teams can intervene earlier, improving retention and overall student success.

9. AI Enabled Efficiencies and Institutional Growth

Operational efficiency is a growing priority across higher education. FlightPath automates many time consuming tasks, such as identifying at risk students, tracking engagement patterns, and aggregating advising data.

These efficiencies free staff to focus on meaningful student interactions while supporting institutional growth through scalable, data driven processes.

10. Data Literacy for Institutional Leaders

For campus leaders, the value of institutional data lies in its ability to support confident, timely decisions. FlightPath presents advising, engagement, enrollment, and student success data in concise, contextualized views that highlight trends and implications rather than raw metrics.

FlightPath helps senior leaders use data effectively for strategic planning, resource prioritization, and policy decisions.

Contact us Today!

The best part is, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to everything FlightPath has to offer! All at a price point designed to reach campuses of every size and budget.

For more information or a quick demo, Contact us today! Short on time? Watch one of our brief tour videos.