COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. Georgia put a question on the table that every state should be asking: What does online education actually cost? Earlier this year, Georgia’s state Senate proposed paying public colleges roughly 91 cents for every dollar of online instruction relative to campus instruction, meaning online…
Leadership is not defined only by the circumstances we encounter, but also by how we learn from them and determine what comes next. Higher education leaders often accept positions because they believe in an institution’s mission and see opportunities to make a meaningful difference. They bring experience, professional judgment, and a commitment to supporting students,…
What happens when the exponential growth graph of a technology approaches the point at which it “begins to go vertical?” That is just where we are in the implementation of agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI). Since the release of ChatGPT 3.5 just four years ago this month, we have experienced a steady-to-ever increasing rate of improvement…
Clearly, many aspects of everyday living have begun to change in the emerging, evolving “Age of AI.” Higher education must acknowledge and adapt to those changes and anticipate the ones yet to come. Some faculty members fail to recognize that the world has changed and we must respond to those changes in how and what…
UPCEA and Columbia University School of Professional Studies Convene Business and Academic Leaders for the Forum on the Future of Work
Inaugural Forum on the Future of Work: Day 1 On June 21 and 22, UPCEA and the Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS) hosted the Inaugural Forum on the Future of Work. The Forum brought together academics and industry leaders to discuss the changing leadership landscape, new ways to nurture employee talent, and the…
Policy Matters | Public Comment on Regulations Due July 12
Major Updates The U.S. Department of Education has released Proposed Regulations for Public Comment.The regulations cover a wide range of topics including changes to accreditation, state authorization, student notifications, and other topics. If finalized before November, these changes would not go into effect until July 1, 2020. We encourage you to comment as an individual, from…
What Does Free Community College Mean for Professional Learning Spaces?
By SmartBrief Editors This post is produced in partnership with UPCEA. The idea of offering free access to community college, and even entire degree programs, has gained steam in recent years. CNBC reports that 11 states in the country offer at least some tuition-free community college programs to qualified students and nine more have…
Coalition Supports FY2020 House Appropriations Bill
UPCEA joined with ACE and 35 other organizations yesterday to send a letter to the House Committee on Appropriations as they were approving spending bills for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education for fiscal year 2020. Today, the House Committee on Appropriations approved its bill, allocating $75.9 billion to the Department of Education…
In 1915, UPCEA’s founders built this association on a simple idea: carrying knowledge to the people. That founding purpose never had an expiration date, and it does not have one now. It is why, more than a century later, the question in front of us was never whether professional learning needs to change. It is…
The tagline for Convergence, Credential Innovation in Higher Education, raises two important questions: First, what kind of credentials are we talking about? Is the scope of credentials unlimited, blue sky, or confined to incremental changes on the margins of the status quo? And second, who is leading that innovation, and what do they need to…
A learner who values independence may find an automated response convenient and sufficient. Another, facing the same question, may need guidance to understand the implications for their circumstances. Both expect the institution to help them move forward, but what that requires can look quite different. Boundless Learning’s 2026 online learner segmentation research, conducted with Hanover…
Over 80% of instructional designers reported using AI in 2025, and it’s safe to assume that number has grown this year. (At Six Red Marbles, all our designers use AI daily.) They’re using AI for everything from proposing guidelines for content development to formatting documents and creating visuals. At colleges and universities, instructional designers are…