NASPA Releases Annual Research on Top Issues in Student Affairs

WASHINGTON, DC - September 17, 2026 - The 2026 NASPA Top Issues in Student Affairs report provides a snapshot of priorities in higher education among student affairs professionals in 2026, while highlighting areas where professionals need additional support. The third annual iteration of this survey expanded to include perspectives from student affairs professionals at all levels – including vice presidents of student affairs, senior level, assistant vice presidents, faculty, mid-level, or new professionals. Participants rated the level of importance of 25 issues within five key areas: Administration & Governance, Assessment & Evaluation, Health, Safety, & Well-being, Student Success, and Technology & Digital Innovation.

”The 2026 Top Issues in Student Affairs research tells a clear story: student success and well-being remains at the center of the work,” stated Jhenai Chandler, Vice President for Research, Policy, and Student Success. “However, professionals recognize that meaningful progress depends on how well we strategically collaborate, invest, and align data assessment efforts to build institutional capacity.” 

Student success and well-being remain foundational priorities in 2026 for institutions and the work of student affairs. Issues in the area of Student Success were rated within the top five most important issues across all professional levels (n=846). Aggregating responses from all professional levels this year – noting the distinction in vice presidents being asked about level of importance of each issue to their institution in 2026 and others asked about level of importance to their role – shows the top three issues most frequently rated as very important are:

1. Increasing institution-wide collaboration to deliver coordinated student success supports (75%).
2. Providing students with education and supports to ensure they have an affirming institutional experience (72%). 
3. Using feedback from students through surveys, focus groups, and other assessment tools to improve holistic student supports (69%.) 

Comparison of these rankings for vice presidents from 2025 to 2026 show an increase in prioritization for 19 of the 25 issues. Among the largest increases was increasing student access to personalized advising and career supports, which rose from 58% to 78%. Results also indicate that vice presidents are placing less comparative urgency in addressing external pressures, with protecting the institution against cyber attacks and navigating political and legislative pressures still both top concerns, but with their importance ratings declining by six and nine percentage points, respectively.

These findings provide important opportunities for NASPA and institutions to develop tailored resources and support to translate priorities into effective practice aligned with the needs of members at different stages of their career journey. NASPA will continue analyzing findings, including data about how professionals report navigating top issues, throughout the year. 

The full findings are now available on the NASPA website: https://naspa.org/top-issues.

Contact: [email protected] 

About NASPA: Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASPA is the leading association for the advancement, health, and sustainability of the student affairs profession. NASPA’s work provides high-quality professional development, advocacy, and research for over 13,000 members in all 50 states, 25 countries, and 8 U.S. territories.