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

Marketing Microcredentials for Higher Education: Strategies to Attract Lifelong Learners

January 16, 2025

Defining Microcredentials and Their Value Microcredentials, shorter educational programs that develop specific skills or competencies, have seen tremendous growth in recent years. Both adult learners and traditional students increasingly seek these credentials for upskilling or career advancement. While the term “microcredentials” is relatively new, short-form credentials have been offered by higher education institutions for decades,…

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AI Readiness and Its Relationship to Enrollment Management in Continuing Education

January 6, 2025

Enrollment management plays a pivotal role in the success of any online and professional continuing education units through impact on revenue generation, learner engagement, and program sustainability. AI-driven business process automation (BPA) offers transformative solutions to streamline enrollment workflows, enhance recruitment strategies, and improve the overall student experience through allowing staff to focus on human…

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

The Rise of Multidisciplinary Research Stimulated by AI Research Tools

January 22, 2025

A revolution is quietly taking place in academic and scholarly research prompted by the advent of AI research tools. This will reshape the very nature of our studies and greatly accelerate synergies and collaborations across academic fields. AI research tools such as OpenAI o1 have now reached test score levels that meet or exceed those…

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A Few Recent Developments That Shine a Light on the Path of AI in Higher Ed

January 8, 2025

As I write this at the dawn of 2025, I believe a scan of a few of the most recent developments in generative AI in higher education helps to illuminate the path this technology will take in the coming year. I publish a number of daily news update blogs for UPCEA, the Online and Professional…

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Your one-stop shop for the latest Association happenings, policy updates, plus thoughts from the desk of CEO Bob Hansen.

UPCEA Announces 2015 Division And Best In Show Marketing Award Recipients

6 Recipients Chosen Out of 18 Leading Entries for Top Honors DENVER, CO — UPCEA, the association for leaders in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the Division and Best in Show award recipients of the 2015 Marketing Awards. The UPCEA Marketing Awards program recognizes the top marketing and creative work across the UPCEA membership…

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UPCEA And OLC Form Coalition To Advance The Interests Of Non-Traditional Learners

WASHINGTON, DC, and NEWBURYPORT, MA, Sept. 24, 2015 — The University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) and the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) have formed a coalition to advance the interests of non-traditional (sometimes called “contemporary”) learners and the programs that support them. This partnership comes at a time of great importance to the higher education federal policy landscape, as Congress…

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UPCEA Announces Partnership With Keypath Education

WASHINGTON, DC– UPCEA, the association for professional, continuing, and online education, is pleased to announce the signing of a Silver level partnership agreement with Keypath Education, formerly known as PlattForm, a partner for higher education institutions around the world. Keypath Education is a full-service partner for more than 250 colleges and universities, delivering sustainable institutional growth…

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UPCEA Announces 2015 Marketing Award Recipients

170 Recipients Receive Honors Across 26 Categories for Excellence in Marketing WASHINGTON, D.C., September 16, 2015 — UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the recipients of the 2015 Marketing Awards. The UPCEA Marketing Awards program recognizes the top marketing and creative work across the UPCEA membership. This year, UPCEA is…

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Musings on trends and updates from UPCEA CEO Bob Hansen.

A new direction for the Distance Teaching and Learning Conference

November 7, 2024

Over 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…

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Beyond Degrees: How Credential Innovation is Closing the Gap for 42 Million Learners

October 24, 2024

A Movement, Not Just a Community Convergence is emerging as the place where the credential innovation community for higher ed comes together. But more than a community, it’s a movement. Not a movement to make degrees less valuable, let alone obsolete. Rather, it’s a movement to complement degrees by meeting the needs of those for…

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Valuable insights from UPCEA's trusted corporate partners.

Is an OPM Right for You? How Can You Tell?

January 31, 2025

Is an OPM partnership right for your institution? The answer is rarely a simple yes or no. The decision to work with an Online Program Manager (OPM) is complex—shaped by factors like institutional readiness, cultural alignment, operational needs, staff expertise and financial considerations. Some universities thrive with deep OPM partnerships, others prefer independence, and many…

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Ten Ways to S.K.I.L.L.: Strengthening Knowledge Through Industry-Linked Learning in Higher Education

January 27, 2025

During a recent Virtual Masterclass titled Strategies for Integrating Micro-Credentials into Curriculum, I had the privilege of joining Lancie Affonso from the College of Charleston to explore how industry-recognized microcredentials can enhance course outcomes. Lancie shared examples of how microcredentials can bridge the gap between academic theory and professional practice while meeting students’ diverse interests…

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