Artificial intelligence is becoming part of the everyday work of higher education. From enrollment management and student services to academic administration and continuing and professional education, AI is creating opportunities to rethink how work is accomplished. Much of the discussion has focused on what AI can do. For institutional leaders, however, a more important question…
There are many assumptions about AI use across generations. Gen Z readily embraces artificial intelligence. Millennials are integrating it into their work. Gen X is more cautious and pragmatic. Baby Boomers are reluctant adopters. Is it really that simple? Perhaps not. Generational differences in AI use appear to be real. What those differences mean is…
In a remarkable period of intense development of powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, leaders in the industry have called for a modest level of oversight to ensure safety and provide protections against misuse and abuse of the power of AI. Late last month, President Trump announced the formation of a “Superintelligence Force” to oversee AI…
I am an advocate for AI and the vast possibilities for advancement it can bring across the world. Yet, these advancements must not be rushed lest we risk unintended consequences. In this high-tech, high-competition environment in the AI field, we are seeing new versions of models rolled out by the frontier companies (OpenAI, Google and…
Post-Pandemic, Online Ed Has ‘Staying Power’ (Inside Higher Ed)
“The surge in online enrollment forced by the pandemic is leveling out. And the modality is now far more popular than it ever was during the 2010s, according to newly released federal data. The Education Department published fall 2024 online enrollment data last month, covering more 5,615 institutions. The data shows nearly 54 percent of college students…
Unlocking Opportunity: How Tax Policies Like Section 127 Can Drive Employer Partnerships
By Chelsea Miller, UpSkill America, and Amy Heitzman, UPCEA This piece was originally published in July 2025. It has since been updated to reflect changes to Section 127 as a result of the 2025 tax reconciliation bill. Updated September 1, 2026. Partnership is a key driver to unlocking opportunity in America. This is why UPCEA and UpSkill…
Building Tomorrow’s University Today
How continuing education leaders are turning institutional pressure into possibility Higher education is under no shortage of pressure. Enrollment volatility, strained financial models, rapidly changing technologies, and evolving learner expectations are forcing institutions to reconsider whom they serve, how learning is delivered, and what sustainability will require. But pressure does not determine what comes next….
ED Releases Proposed Accreditation Rule; Comments Due September 21 | Policy Matters (August 2026)
Major Updates ED Releases Proposed Accreditation Rule; Comments Due September 21 The U.S. Department of Education published its proposed accreditation rule, Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization: The Secretary’s Recognition of Accrediting Agencies, on August 20, following the AIM negotiated rulemaking committee’s consensus agreement in May (which we previously covered in our May Policy Matters newsletter). The…
In 1915, UPCEA’s founders built this association on a simple idea: carrying knowledge to the people. That founding purpose never had an expiration date, and it does not have one now. It is why, more than a century later, the question in front of us was never whether professional learning needs to change. It is…
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…
AI tools now play a big role in which online and continuing education programs make a prospect’s shortlist, and that shortlist has room for only three. Search Influence and UPCEA’s 2026 AI Search Research Study shows what it takes to earn one of those spots. Key Insights 56% of prospective online and continuing education students…
Cut the Roles, or Support the People? When generative AI began fielding most of IKEA’s customer service questions, the company faced a choice familiar to any employer navigating fast-moving technology: cut the affected roles, or retrain the people in them. IKEA retrained them. The retailer built a program that moved 8,500 customer service employees into…