Each spring, campuses quietly rehearse a familiar transition. The cadence shifts. Energy returns. Commencement ceremonies are scheduled, and multiple beautification processes are underway, from reenergized flower beds to window washing and clean walkways. What was dormant begins to move again. In higher education, this seasonal rhythm offers more than symbolism. It provides a useful leadership lens for…
I have always appreciated how honest wood is. Look at a cut stump and the rings tell a story: good years, lean years, drought, recovery. That feels like the right way to read the newly released 2026 State of Continuing Education report from UPCEA, Modern Campus, and The EvoLLLution. As this partnership reaches its five-year…
The Chief Online Learning Officers at colleges and universities are increasingly charting the future of teaching and learning. It was three decades ago that my career in higher education took a turn. I was promoted to full Professor and given the golden opportunity of my career to lead our campus in the use of the…
Many of us utilize AI daily in our higher education work, yet we may not have assessed the ethical and human-centered nature of the tool we have selected and trained through our prompts. AI tools are no longer a relatively simple search engine that is driven by marketing metrics to help us conduct our research.…
Pioneering Study Reveals More Than 90 Percent of Colleges and Universities Embrace Alternative Credentials
WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 28, 2016 – A study released today by UPCEA (the University Professional and Continuing Education Association), Penn State and Pearson, at the UPCEA and the American Council on Education (ACE) Summit for Online Leadership in Washington, D.C., found widespread acceptance and use of alternative credentialing programs at American colleges and universities….
I waited until I was 30 to go to college. Best decision ever. (The Washington Post)
Technically, being a nontraditional student isn’t all that nontraditional. The National Center for Education Statistics has delineated seven characteristics of nontraditional students, including delayed enrollment, full-time employment and supporting a dependent; NCES posits that 75 percent of all students have at least one of these characteristics. In 2011, 40 percent of American college students were…
ED Issues Proposed Rules on Borrower Defense to Repayment
The Department of Education has released proposed regulations on Borrower Defense to Repayment, a mechanism which would allow any student who believe they were defrauded at their school or the school violated state law, to file a claim with the Department of Education for discharging their loans. These proposed rules have come from the Department…
A big partnership for higher ed data analytics (eCampus News)
Data management software company TMMData joins UPCEA in a Gold Level Industry Partnership to guide its members’ emerging data analytics and reporting efforts. TMMData, a provider of flexible data management software, recently announced its Gold Level Industry Partnership with UPCEA (the University Professional and Continuing Education Association). Through the collaboration, TMMData will pair its data…
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…
Some conferences feel long. This one flew by. And still, I kept thinking I wish I could have attended even more sessions. Over the past few days at the UPCEA Annual Conference, a few very clear themes kept coming back. Not just in presentations, but in conversations with people across institutions. Yes, AI is still very much…
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…