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…
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…
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…
I asked Gemini 3 Thinking, ChatGPT 5.4 Thinking, and Sonnet 4.6 Extended to tell me what jobs in higher education are most vulnerable to replacement by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the next five years. I also asked for recommendations for current and prospective employees in the field. First, let me share with you links to…
UPCEA’s Finance Department Grows, Welcomes Tanya Smith
UPCEA proudly welcomes Tanya Smith as the association’s new Controller. Tanya is a Certified Public Accountant with an extensive background in higher education. Prior to joining UPCEA’s Finance and Accounting team, she dedicated 25 years to the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), where she most recently served as the Director of Accounting and Financial…
Universities Investing in Microcredential Leadership (Inside Higher Ed)
Amy Heitzman noticed a new trend when UPCEA, an online and professional education association, put out calls last year to institutions looking to bulk up microcredential programs. “Five of the 40 [applicants] said, ‘We’re going to hire someone to head this up,’” said Heitzman, UPCEA’s deputy CEO and chief learning officer. “And it was like,…
ED Sends Distance Ed, R2T4, TRIO Rules for Final Administrative Review | Policy Matters (June 2024)
Major Updates ED Sends Distance Ed, R2T4, TRIO Rules to OIRA for Final Review Before Release and Public Comment The US Department of Education has advanced a set of proposed regulations to the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review. This submission marks the final procedural step before…
Advocating for FAFSA Fixes and State Authorization Reciprocity | Policy Matters (May 2024)
Major Updates UPCEA Co-Signs Request to Congress on FAFSA Fix Proposal In a letter led by the American Council on Education (ACE), UPCEA joined with other organizations to seek legislation for crucial adjustments to the FAFSA process to enhance its efficiency and fairness. Key proposals include ensuring institutions are not held liable for discrepancies in…
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…
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…
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,…