As campuses expand automation and AI, nonhuman identities (applications, services and machine accounts) now vastly outnumber human users on institutional networks, raising security and compliance exposure. Cyber reports estimate NHIs outnumber humans by roughly 82:1; higher‑education IT leaders said many institutions struggle to inventory and secure machine credentials, access tokens and automated workflows. A higher‑ed webinar and guidance brief urged business officers, CIOs and registrars to treat NHIs as first‑class security assets: enforce least‑privilege access, rotate secrets, monitor machine behavior and embed identity governance into procurement. The Department of Justice’s new ADA web‑accessibility rule and other compliance deadlines add pressure for coordinated IT and policy responses. Security experts recommended institutions accelerate identity‑security audits, adopt machine‑centric logging and apply human‑in‑the‑loop governance to AI deployments. Without robust controls, universities face data breaches, research theft and regulatory penalties tied to uncontrolled machine access.