A higher-education-focused security perspective highlights “security debt”—the future cost and risk that accumulate when IT systems are not designed and maintained with security as a core requirement. The piece frames security debt as a more acute form of technical debt for colleges and universities, where legacy systems, patch gaps, and sprawling technology portfolios can compound breach risk. It positions security debt management as a balancing act between predictable spending and avoiding costly failures later. The article also points readers to a related cybersecurity research report from CDW as additional context for how institutions can think about risk management and planning. For campus leaders, the central policy implication is that security investments must be scheduled as part of long-range modernization rather than treated as incremental fixes after incidents occur.