ED Issues Workforce Pell FAQs; Courts Continue Changing Professional Degree List | Policy Matters (October 2026)
Major Updates U.S. Department of Education Provides Workforce Pell Grant FAQs The U.S. Department of Education has released FAQs on Workforce Pell Grants for short-term programs. The guidance covers items like the baseline eligibility standards: programs be at least 8 but fewer than 15 weeks or 150 to 599 clock hours and operational for a…
UPCEA CEO Robert J. Hansen to Retire in 2027; Board to Launch National Search for Successor
Hansen will leave an organization that has nearly quadrupled its annual revenue and become the leading association for online and professional education WASHINGTON, October 21, 2026 – The UPCEA Board of Directors today announced that Dr. Robert J. Hansen, who has led UPCEA, the online and professional education association, for more than 16 years, will…
Workforce Pell Moves from Rules to Reality: State Pipelines, New Federal Training, and $65 Million from Labor | Policy Matters (September 2026)
Major Updates Workforce Pell Moves from Rules to Reality: State Approval Pipelines Mature, ED Launches Training, and Labor Awards $65 Million Nearly three months after Workforce Pell Grants (Pell awards for programs of 150–599 clock hours, or 8 to fewer than 15 weeks) became available on July 1, the rollout is moving at very different…
2026 UPCEA MEMS Award Recipients Announced
26 recipients chosen across three award categories WASHINGTON, D.C., September 16, 2026 — UPCEA, the online and professional education association, has announced the recipients of the 2026 Excellence in Enrollment Management Award, the Excellence in Advancing Student Success Award, and the Excellence in Marketing Award. All three awards are sponsored by UPCEA’s Marketing, Enrollment Management,…
New Research: AI Answers Decide Which Schools Prospects Choose as Consideration Sets Continue to Shrink
UPCEA and Search Influence’s 2026 study finds prospective students question AI more, but increasingly use and trust it in their search for programs NEW ORLEANS, La. — September 16, 2026 — Prospective students consider just three or fewer continuing and online education programs before applying, and AI-generated search overviews increasingly shape which ones make that…
Post-Pandemic, Online Ed Has ‘Staying Power’ (Inside Higher Ed)
“The surge in online enrollment forced by the pandemic is leveling out. And the modality is now far more popular than it ever was during the 2010s, according to newly released federal data. The Education Department published fall 2024 online enrollment data last month, covering more 5,615 institutions. The data shows nearly 54 percent of college students…
Unlocking Opportunity: How Tax Policies Like Section 127 Can Drive Employer Partnerships
By Chelsea Miller, UpSkill America, and Amy Heitzman, UPCEA This piece was originally published in July 2025. It has since been updated to reflect changes to Section 127 as a result of the 2025 tax reconciliation bill. Updated September 1, 2026. Partnership is a key driver to unlocking opportunity in America. This is why UPCEA and UpSkill…
Building Tomorrow’s University Today
How continuing education leaders are turning institutional pressure into possibility Higher education is under no shortage of pressure. Enrollment volatility, strained financial models, rapidly changing technologies, and evolving learner expectations are forcing institutions to reconsider whom they serve, how learning is delivered, and what sustainability will require. But pressure does not determine what comes next.…
Professional, Continuing, and Online Education Update by UPCEA
- The power of feedback to build belonging in online learning - María de Lourdes Gómez Calvo & Estefannía Garza Tamez, Times Higher Education
- CMU Introduces 4 New Online Graduate Certificates for Professionals - Alexander Johnson, Carnegie Mellon University
- A New Home for Nontraditional Students - Joshua Bay, Inside Higher Ed
- Survey: 48% of Employers Say AI Will Make College Degrees More Important - Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed
- The AI value curve: The economics of applying AI to existing work - McKinsey
- US university offers cut-price UK degree for international students - Andrew Jack, Financial Times
- Assessments in Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
- Why Hands-On Training Still Matters in a Digital Age - Michael Burke, Occupational Health and Safety
- Indiana Tech gets national recognition for online learning improvements - Ashley Sloboda, The Journal Gazette
- AI in the Business Classroom: Building Better Thinkers in Macroeconomics - University of Dayton
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