UPCEA Blogs

See below for the full set of all blogs hosted by the association.

Learn more about UPCEA publications. If you want to be sure to get updates from us, be sure you're a UPCEA member.

The Pulse of Higher Ed

Perspectives on Online and Professional Education
from UPCEA’s Research and Consulting Experts

UPCEA’s Corporate Member Blog Series #3 | The Partner Playbook: 5 Ways to Help Universities Win the “Modern Learner”

April 6, 2026

The “traditional” student is quickly becoming a relic of a bygone era. The future of enrollment is concentrated in new, non-traditional markets: adult learners seeking rapid re-skilling, dual-enrolled high school students, and the millions of Americans with “some college, no credential” who represent a significant scalable opportunity for growth. Universities know they must pivot decisively…

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Student Recruitment

March 23, 2026

I recently contributed a chapter in the recently released book, AI Applications in Online Higher Education Administration: Strategies for Maximizing Returns and Improving Outcomes edited by Kathleen Ives, Marie Cini, and Ray Schroeder. This blog highlights key take-aways from my chapter. Higher education recruitment is undergoing one of the most significant transformations in decades. Traditional…

Online: Trending Now

Unique biweekly insights and news review from Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA

What Deans and Department Chairs Must Do Before Fall

April 16, 2026

The spring semester is coming to a close with the normal host of routines. Yet, beneath those routines, something is unfolding in the labor market that will greet your new graduates who will face an incrementally tighter job market. I asked Claude Sonnet 4.6 Extended Thinking to research the tasks relevant to preparing our new…

What to Teach Now?

April 2, 2026

Technologists, economists, and visionaries are warning us that in the next three to 18 months, we are going to experience rapid and pervasive disruption of our professional lives, workplace models, and distribution of income. Professional positions requiring college degrees will be lost, remade into highly-productive, cost-efficient, hybrid human-AI models where human contributions and compensation will…

UPCEA Updates

Your one-stop shop for the latest Association happenings, policy updates, plus thoughts from UPCEA Senior Leaders.

Letter to Congressman Denham for Permanent DACA Fix Bill

UPCEA joined with ACE and 32 other organizations to thank Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) and other representatives who supported H.Res. 774, thanking them for taking action to provide a permanent solution for Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The resolution uses a House rule known as “Queen of the Hill” to hold votes on four different…

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Department of Education Releases 2018 Condition of Education Report

The US Department of Education has released its yearly dataset The Condition of Education 2018. The report covers all levels of education measured through key indicators, including not only higher education, but K-12 as well. The congressionally mandated report is provided to Congress to each year to inform policy making to show trends and the…

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US Department of Education Delays Distance Education Regulations

On December 19th, 2016 the Department published regulations relating to the State authorization of distance education providers. These regulations originally were to go into effect July 1 of this year, but has been suggested to be delayed for two years until 2020. The Department has signaled that it intends to commence negotiated rulemaking on these…

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Four Organizations Partner on Public Policy for Adult Learners at June Summit

The organizations will be focusing on workforce policy, online education, and many other topics related to state and federal policy and higher education. WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 24 — Four higher education organizations are joining together to host a June event focused on state and federal policy trends impacting higher education. The University Professional and Continuing…

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From the CEO

Musings on trends and updates from UPCEA CEO Bob Hansen.

Constructing the Future: Why Credential Innovation Needs Bold Leadership

November 21, 2025

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…

Foreword by Bob Hansen Featured in The COLO Guidebook

July 10, 2025

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…

Valuable insights from UPCEA's trusted corporate partners.

Using AI to Support Enrollment Teams, Not Replace Them

April 2, 2026

Online enrollment leaders don’t need another mandate to “use AI.” They need relief. Most teams are already stretched thin by demands to manage inquiry volume, follow-up expectations, data hygiene, and prospect responsiveness. They lack the capacity to take on yet another complex initiative, especially one that feels abstract or disruptive. AI mandates promise transformation when…

How to Explain AI SEO ROI to University Leadership (Without Overpromising)

March 9, 2026

Discover how to explain AI SEO ROI to university leadership when attribution is imperfect, with insights and strategy from Search Influence. Across higher education, marketing teams are being asked to explain AI search visibility before institutions agree on how to measure it. Leadership discussions are moving quickly, while reporting frameworks remain centered on keyword rankings,…