The Online and Professional Education Association
Serving adult higher education units at the leading universities and colleges across the field.
UPCEA is the online and professional education association.
Our members are continuously reinventing higher education, positively impacting millions of lives. We lead and support them through research, networking, mentorship, conferences, seminars, and advocacy. We also bring together leaders in education, industry, research, and policy to elevate educational access and outcomes.
Learn more about UPCEA's focus areas:
Why Leaders Choose UPCEA
The association serves its members and advances leadership in online and professional continuing education with innovative conferences and specialty seminars, research and benchmarking information, professional networking opportunities and timely publications.
Focus & Expertise: We’re exclusively focused on advancing online and professional continuing education, and our leaders have experience as senior administrators in these areas.
Breadth of Knowledge: We are the only association of current and future leaders in online and professional continuing education, with an extremely diverse member base, giving us unparalleled insights and credibility.
Collaborative Member Community: Our members are highly engaged and actively seek opportunities to collaborate, sharing challenges and solutions with one another via our community platforms, events and facilitated discussions.
Entrepreneurial Environment: We are a hub for program and business model innovation, supporting our members in all phases, from ideation to operational excellence.
Integrated Solutions Marketplace: We engage industry leading solution providers as members, versus treating them simply as exhibitors and sponsors, resulting in a culture of partnership and sharing that benefits everyone involved.
UPCEA Highlights & Announcements
Predictions 2024: Insights for Online and Professional Education
Book – Using ROI for Strategic Planning of Online Education
PCO Pro Certificate – New bundled pricing
2024 UPCEA Annual Conference
CORe – UPCEA’s Member Community
Conferences & Events
Connect with and learn from high-level leaders and colleagues at UPCEA conferences, seminars, webinars and other events.
MARCH 26-28, 2024
2024 UPCEA Annual Conference
Boston, MA
JULY 22-24, 2024
2024 Distance Teaching & Learning (DT&L) and Summit for Online Leadership and Administration + Roundtable (SOLA+R)
Minneapolis, MN
SEPTEMBER 30 -OCTOBER 2, 2024
2024 Convergence: Credential Innovation in Higher Education
Presented by UPCEA and AACRAO
New Orleans, LA
Actionable Research & Benchmarking
Today’s leaders in professional, continuing and online education turn to UPCEA Research and Consulting for their actionable benchmarking and consulting needs. This provides industry-wide research for UPCEA members, and offers contract market research, benchmarking studies, and custom data exploration at member rates far below industry average.
UPCEA Certificate Programs & Courses
Get the essential skills and knowledge you and your team need from the leading experts in the field. UPCEA's Online Professional Development Certificates and Courses offer high-value and relevant content for practitioners at all levels, as well as engagement with peers from across the field to strengthen your breadth of knowledge and skills.
News & Blogs
UPCEA Releases 2024 Predictions for Online & Professional Education (December 4, 2023)
Read More...Preparing for the Unanticipated: AI Applications in Higher Education (November 28, 2023)
Read More...Generative AI: Your Assistant as an Administrator or Faculty Member (November 9, 2023)
Read More...What Current UPCEA Members Are Saying
"The UPCEA membership benefits that have been invaluable to me are the professional development resources, the benchmarking resources and the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence."
Dr. Tonya Amankwatia, Assistant Vice Provost of Distance Education & Extended Learning
North Carolina A&T State University
"It's wonderful to be back in the UPCEA community. My colleagues in the UW system and I are unanimously and enthusiastically supportive of the strengths of UPCEA!"
Matthew E. Vick, Dean, School of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education
University of Wisconsin, Whitewater
"The esprit de corps exhibited by UPCEA staff and members is second to none."
J. Kim McNutt, Dean-College of Extended & International Education
California State University, Dominguez Hills
"All community colleges and universities would benefit from the expertise in online learning that UPCEA staff and members possess."
Barbara Kopp Miller, Ph.D., Dean and Professor
University of Toledo
“UPCEA was my lifeline during the past two years. If I had an issue, I had no problem reaching out directly to a staff member and saying, here's my biggest rock - how can you help me navigate this?”
Barbara Kopp Miller, Ph.D., Dean and Professor
University of Toledo
"UPCEA is the one place where I know I have a network of colleagues who are...willing to share their expertise and experience."
Christina Trombley, Ph.D., Executive Director of Drake Online and Continuing Education
Drake University
“Our team is discovering what a great resource the UPCEA network is, and everyone is becoming a fan! We look forward to our collaboration in the years ahead."
Charles Iacovou, Dean of the School of Professional Studies
Wake Forest University
"Having these resources and sharing best practices helped us navigate through what will forever be considered the new normal."
Mili Maldonado Agusty, Executive Director
Sagrado Global School of Professional Studies, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
"I continue to find the collaborative spaces in UPCEA extremely rewarding and hope to keep locating new ways to leverage my skills and grow in the organization."
Matt DiPirro, Associate Dean, Liberal Arts
Southern New Hampshire University
"I have not been part of another organization that can so quickly and easily
connect you with seasoned professionals and growth opportunities."
Kristin Hrynczuk, Instructional Technology Specialist
Western Michigan University
"The UPCEA membership, without question, has been the best return on investment for our institution."
Pamela Wimbush, Associate Dean
California State University, Sacramento
Want to Learn More?
Contact Us!
To learn more about how UPCEA can help you and your organization navigate the vastly changing landscape of online and professional continuing education please complete this form or email us at [email protected]
Our Partners
Click here to learn more about our industry partners.
Interested in Corporate Partnership or Membership? Click here to learn more.