Why higher ed needs to get on board with micro-credentials (University Business)

A new study focusing on employers’ perspectives on micro-credentials reveals that while a strong majority of them believe it boosts a prospective hire’s value, not enough colleges and universities are capitalizing on it. More than 70% of respondents agreed that job applicants with non-degree or alternative credentials have increased the past two years and those hires…

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Employers Are All In on Microcredentials, Survey Shows (Inside Higher Ed)

Ninety-five percent of employers see benefits in their employees accruing microcredentials, according to a new survey from Collegis Education and UPCEA, the association for college and university leaders in online and professional continuing education. Among the leaders surveyed from 500 organizations, 76 percent said pursuing microcredentials demonstrates an employee’s willingness to develop their skills, 63 percent said it…

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Employer Demand for Microcredentials On the Rise, New Study From UPCEA and Collegis Education Reveals

Nearly 100 percent of organizational leaders see benefits from employees having microcredentials WASHINGTON (February 22, 2023) — Employer demand for microcredentials is on the rise, according to a new study released today by UPCEA, the association for college and university leaders in online and professional continuing education, and Collegis Education. The report, “The Effect of…

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IMPORTANT UPDATES – Third-Party Servicer and Recruitment Compensation Updates from US Department of Education | Policy Matters (February 2023)

Major Updates NOTE: This post has been updated since its original publishing to include extended deadlines provided by the Department of Education. Some substantial items for UPCEA members to review from the US Department of Education were announced last week. The long-expected Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on Third-Party Servicers (TPS) and public comment periods on…

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Definition Update: Chief Online Learning Officer (COLO)

By Julie Uranis, Senior Vice President of Online and Strategic Initiatives, UPCEA From its earliest days in 1915, UPCEA members have led the charge in making postsecondary education available to distant learners. From the correspondence movement to today, distance learning, now online learning, has been led by practitioners that sit at the intersection of curriculum,…

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Do Stranded Academic Credits Lead To Stranded Students? How Transfer Of Credit Policies Impact College Completion (Forbes)

[…] Late last year, the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), the largest association of adult and continuing education divisions at higher education institutions, and StraighterLine, a provider of low-cost, flexible online courses, found that the most significant barrier that students encounter when transferring between institutions is getting earned academic credit to count at…

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In the Coming Weeks, How to Respond to Generative AI

Many were taken by surprise by the emergence of highly-sophisticated large language models. Notice was taken last year with OpenAI GPT-3. I was amazed last August, when I first asked GPT-3 to write a sample article about the impact of GPT on higher education. It responded with an accurate, cogent 700-word piece in just seconds.…

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Scaling the Demographic Cliff

By Jim Fong, UPCEA’s Chief Research Officer, and Bruce Etter, UPCEA’s Senior Director of Research and Consulting When hikers are faced with an obstacle like a cliff, they have several options. One is to go around it but with some mixture of uncertainty and consequences, such as lost time or having to use additional resources.…

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UPCEA Congratulates Members Recognized in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Ranking of Best Online Bachelor’s Programs

29 of Top 30 Ranked Institutions are UPCEA Members WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 10, 2023) — UPCEA, the association for college and university leaders in online and professional continuing education, is pleased to congratulate the many UPCEA members recognized in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings. U.S. News rankings include more…

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Remaining Relevant in a Changing Higher Ed

How can you remain relevant in higher education in 2023? In a field that has remained relatively unchanged over the decades, higher education is overdue for a major makeover to adjust to the changes over the decades in our society. We have lost affordability and relevance to many prospective students and employers. As a result,…

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