Thought Leadership
Navigating NACUBO’s Top 5 Business Issues of 2025:
A CFO’s Perspective
By Ben Golden, Chief Financial Officer, CampusWorks
As CFOs in higher education, we are no strangers to disruption. But the 2025 NACUBO survey of chief business officers underscores what many of us feel every day: the challenges are intensifying, the stakes are higher, and the pace of change is accelerating.
This year’s Top 5 Business Issues tell a story of both risk and opportunity. As I reflect on these findings, I see areas where financial leaders must lead with both courage and creativity—and where strategic partnerships can make all the difference.
1. Managing Unreliable Funding Sources
Unpredictable federal policy, tuition discounting, and shrinking appropriations are creating volatility across our sector. Traditional budget models no longer provide the certainty they once did.
As CFOs, we must become scenario planners—stress-testing our budgets, diversifying revenue streams, and equipping our institutions with reliable data to make informed decisions.
At CampusWorks, we help institutions do just that. Whether you’re assessing the financial and operational implications of the recent Anthology split or responding to increased pressure to move critical systems to the cloud, we bring a completely vendor-neutral perspective to help you evaluate options objectively. Our experts can partner with your team to model the costs, risks, and ROI of each path—aligning technology decisions with your institution’s unique business case and funding realities.
By optimizing ERP and financial systems, strengthening business processes, shoring up talent gaps, and uncovering operational efficiencies, we help every dollar go further—so your institution can stay resilient no matter how unpredictable the environment becomes.
2. Amplifying the Value of Higher Education
The public narrative around higher education has shifted—and not in our favor. Misconceptions about cost, aid, and outcomes erode trust, even as the lifetime value of a degree remains strong.
CFOs are uniquely positioned to address this challenge. We hold the data that demonstrates outcomes, efficiencies, and impact. By translating financial insights into accessible stories, we can help rebuild public trust. Tools like CampusLens—our analytics platform—are designed to give institutions the clarity they need to streamline business processes and link investments directly to student success and community impact.
3. Navigating Political and Policy Disruptions
From Title IV uncertainty to shifting indirect cost reimbursement rates, the policy landscape is more unpredictable than ever. For many of us, these disruptions threaten not only financial stability but also the ability to plan long-term.
The solution lies in agility. We must design financial strategies that can pivot quickly without destabilizing our institutions. At CampusWorks, our interim leadership and staff on-demand services, coupled with policy impact modeling, help institutions anticipate the ripple effects of federal and state changes before they arrive.
4. Supporting and Maintaining the Workforce
Perhaps the most personal challenge we face as CFOs is sustaining the workforce that makes our institutions run. Rising benefit costs, hiring difficulties, and morale pressures weigh heavily on budgets and leadership alike.
The numbers matter—but so does culture. At CampusWorks, we’ve found that by providing IT managed services, functional managed services, and workflow optimization, we not only help institutions fill talent gaps but also relieve the pressure on existing teams. When employees feel supported, productivity and engagement rise.
5. Meeting Rising Operational Costs
Deferred maintenance, cybersecurity, and escalating service demands are stretching already tight budgets. And as Fitch Ratings and Moody’s have noted, operating margins across the sector are thinner than ever.
Here, the role of the CFO is to prioritize ruthlessly while ensuring investments align with institutional mission. CampusWorks partners with institutions to optimize technology investments, design shared services models, and strengthen cybersecurity—all with the goal of reducing costs and freeing up resources for what matters most: student success.
Leading Through Uncertainty
The NACUBO survey makes it clear: our sector is navigating profound disruption, but also profound possibility. As CFOs, we have the responsibility—and the privilege—to chart a path forward. By combining financial discipline with strategic creativity, we can help our institutions flourish.
At CampusWorks, this is the work we do every day alongside colleges and universities across the country. If your institution is wrestling with these issues, I’d welcome a conversation—I’ve included my contact information below. Together, we can focus on what truly matters: ensuring that higher education remains a beacon of opportunity and resilience.
Ben Golden
Chief Financial Officer, CampusWorks
Email: transform@campusworksinc.com
