https://www.upguard.com/blog/how-colleges-universities-can-prevent-data-breaches are among the top targets for hackers and cybercriminals. According to https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/search/?q=Check%20Point#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=Check%20Point&gsc.page=1, the education sector had 44% more cyber attacks than the year earlier.
With the personal data acquired during a phishing attempt, cybercriminals can target more high-profile individuals with https://www.upguard.com/blog/spear-phishing and https://www.upguard.com/blog/whaling-attack.
A disgruntled teacher or student could spearhead this attack successfully, especially if the educational institution were typically ill-prepared for cyber attacks.
Several factors common to educational institutions make them more susceptible to cyber attacks and hackers than organizations in other sectors.