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

Starting Small: A 90-Day Framework for AI Adoption in Online and Professional Continuing Education Units

April 20, 2026

For many online and professional continuing education units, the primary barrier to adopting artificial intelligence is not access to tools, it is uncertainty about where to begin and how to proceed without disrupting daily operations. Leaders are often balancing innovation with stability, making it difficult to introduce new approaches without clear structure.  A focused, time-bound strategy can reduce that ambiguity. A 90-day adoption…

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…

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.

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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Letter to the Department of Homeland Security on DACA Processing

UPCEA, along with ACE and 35 other organizations signed onto a letter to Secretary Nielsen of the Department of Homeland Security regarding the renewal process for current Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) registrants. We urged the Department to process all renewal applications in a timely and prompt matter. We strongly encouraged DHS and United…

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AHEAD and UPCEA Partner to Support Online Enterprise Accessibility

Partnership will focus on aspects of accessibility including faculty support, student support, and cultivating institutional advocates WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 4, 2018) – AHEAD, the organization of professionals committed to full participation in higher education for persons with disabilities, has partnered with UPCEA, the leading association for professional, continuing, and online education, to exchange resources, engage…

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UPCEA Announces Four New Board Members

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2018 – UPCEA, the Washington, D.C.-based association for university leaders in professional, continuing, and online education, welcomed two new officers and two new directors to serve on the UPCEA Board of Directors during the 2018 UPCEA Annual Conference. “This year’s deep pool of nominees was exceptionally talented, and it was a challenge…

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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,…