For 2022, many saw and felt it to be a year of uncertainty. It was the first real full-year of return to campus-based operations after the start of the COVID pandemic, with most staff and students going back to in-person work and learning. However, like many industries, higher education retirements increased and given inflationary factors,…
Read MoreUPCEA recently collaborated with ed2go on research related to professional, continuing, and online (PCO) education units’ relationships with third-party providers. This study, Perceptions of Third-Party Providers as a Result of the Pandemic, found that PCO units often sought assistance from third-party providers to help expand bandwidth to support existing students, diversify their portfolios, and continually…
Read MoreFall semesters are just beginning and the companies offering three leading AI models: Gemini by Google, Claude by Anthropic and ChatGPT by OpenAI have rolled out tools to facilitate AI-enhanced learning. Here’s a comparison and how to get them. Each of the three leading AI providers has taken a somewhat different approach to providing an…
Read MoreLearning in contemporary higher education is rooted deeply in calendars and time rather than mastery of the topic of the learning. With an inflexible semester or quarter calendar and an often-inflexible schedule and length of meeting times, learners are marched through the system in the orderly method of an assembly line. As long as I…
Read MoreHonoring the Life and Legacy of Dr. James P. Pappas
UPCEA joins colleagues, friends, and the broader higher education community in mourning the passing of Dr. James P. Pappas, who dedicated his career to advancing the reach, relevance, and impact of online, professional and continuing education. Dr. Pappas, a former President of UPCEA, was the 1999 Walton S. Bittner Service Citation Award recipient and 2006…
UPCEA Partners with AACRAO to Present 2025 Convergence: Credential Innovation in Higher Education
September 29-October 1 conference to take place in metro Washington DC area WASHINGTON, D.C., ISSUED SEPTEMBER 9, 2025. UPCEA, the online and professional education association, and AACRAO, a non-profit organization that supports higher education professionals, are again joining together to present Convergence: Credential Innovation in Higher Education, an event exploring the future of alternative credentials…
Justice Department Threatens College Funding Over DEI Policies; Administration Requests Detailed Admissions Data | Policy Matters (August 2025)
Major Updates Justice Department Threatens College Funding Over DEI Policies; Administration Requests Detailed Admissions Data The U.S. Department of Justice has issued guidance warning that colleges and other federally funded institutions could lose federal support if they continue certain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. The DOJ’s new memo flags a sweeping range of campus…
UPCEA’s 2025 Online Education Benchmarking Report Provides Vital Data for University Leaders
Second annual study provides new KPI benchmarks around enrollments, finance, and budget, explores the impact of AI, and provides strategic recommendations for online leaders to thrive in these uncertain times. WASHINGTON, D.C., ISSUED AUGUST 12, 2025…UPCEA, the online and professional education association, today announced the release of a new research report, “Benchmarking Online Enterprises: Insights…
We are pleased to share the foreword by UPCEA CEO Bob Hansen from the newly released Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook: A Framework for Strategy and Practice in Higher Education. The guidebook, now available from Routledge in paperback, hardback, and eBook formats, provides a comprehensive framework for today’s online learning leaders. Learn more and purchase…
Read MoreOver the last three years, UPCEA engaged in an innovative partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Madison to enable the latter’s Distance Teaching and Learning (DT&L) conference to continue under UPCEA’s leadership. The partnership’s goals included making this valuable event for the distance learning community more sustainable and accessible to online practitioners focused on teaching and…
Read MoreSince the 1980s, higher education has steadily shifted from passive lectures to more active, student-centered learning. As Bonwell and Eison noted in Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom, this shift not only reinforces content mastery but also fosters critical thinking and problem-solving. Cynthia J. Brame, writing for Vanderbilt’s Center for Teaching, defines active learning…
Read MoreTurn learners into the cyber pros every employer is chasing with stackable, multi-credential pathways The Cyber Talent Gap Is a Moving Target Picture this: the bad guys keep upgrading their playbook, but the good guys are still running last season’s plays. That’s the cyber talent gap in a nutshell. It’s not just about more people…
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