There’s a moment from my college days I remember more clearly than any midterm I ever took. I had stepped away from my bachelor’s degree at Penn State because I wanted to live a little. I’d grown up in the same town that I went to college and I just needed an extended reprieve, something…
Is your online and professional continuing education unit looking for ways to improve job-market outcomes for graduates and alumni? Are you exploring strategies that better align your program portfolio with the skills business and industry leaders say they need both for new hires and for upskilling current employees? Recent employer data provides a clear signal that high-demand employees are ones with verified AI skills and practical experience. A 2025…
Agentic AI is no longer merely an interactive tool we talk to; it is a colleague that acts for us. In a very active and highly competitive environment, AI has grown at breakneck speed. As with so many technologies, business and industry have moved far faster than academe to embrace the cost savings, capability expanding…
AI in Higher Ed Will Come Slowly, Until All of a Sudden! Higher education is, by nature, very slow to change. So it is with embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI). Yet, when it finally comes, the changes will come in an avalanche. In discussions with faculty and staff, I have encountered some reluctance to take AI…
UPCEA Announces Partnership with Drexel University Online
Partnership is in Support of Initiative Dedicated to Advances in Online Education, Virtually Inspired WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 15, 2018) — UPCEA today announced a new partnership with Drexel University Online (DUO) to provide the association’s community with access to DUO’s ‘Virtually Inspired’ website. Virtually Inspired features a series of high-quality videos illuminating how educators worldwide…
Education Department Announces Substantial Rule-Making Session
The Department of Education has announced a negotiated rulemaking committee to prepare regulations for a wide-range of issues pertinent to UPCEA member institutions. The extremely wide range of topics to be discussed include, but is not limited to: State authorization Regular and substantive interaction Definition of “credit hour” Discussion of EQUIP-style programmatic delivery by third-party…
ED Announces Plan to End Gainful Employment Rule
The Department of Education through Secretary Betsy DeVos plans to end the regulations which required for-profit and vocational schools to provide “gainful employment” to the students that move through their programs. The regulation was one of the defining for-profit student consumer safeguards put into place by the Obama administration. The rules would cut off federal…
UPCEA Recognizes University of Wisconsin-Extension for Excellence in Online Learning
UW-Extension receives recognition for a high-quality online education program WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 26, 2018) — The National Council for Online Education announced today that the University of Wisconsin-Extension successfully completed the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership Review program, demonstrating consistent excellence throughout its online programs. The UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership…
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…
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…
Introduction Higher education is at a crossroads, marked by declining public trust, diminishing enrollments, substantial budget cuts, and increased scrutiny on post-college outcomes. Recent research from UPCEA underscores growing skepticism about the value of traditional degrees, driving institutions and learners alike to explore innovative educational pathways and revenue models (UPCEA, 2025). To address these challenges…
Online programs are no longer a nice-to-have. They are essential, with many schools looking to online as their primary growth lever amid market headwinds. A strong portfolio of online programs can allow institutions to grow enrollment, reach new student populations, and future-proof their offerings. But building, launching, and sustaining a successful online program operation requires…