Shifting Student and Employer Priorities Create Opportunities for Higher Education Interest and innovation in workforce-related programming and credentials continue to surge, emerging as one of the fastest growing markets in higher education. Two-thirds of colleges and universities are making significant investments in this area, with more than one-third also embedding professional certifications into their online…
Read MoreInstitutions must begin preparing now for 2026 implementation. On July 4, 2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), a sweeping legislative package that reshapes federal student aid and accountability policy. Among many consequential provisions for higher education is the creation of Workforce Pell, which will extend Pell Grant eligibility to some short-term,…
Read MoreAn artifact of the race to the top in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is that mistakes inevitably occur in refining the models that are under continuous development. One of those many mistakes apparently led to hallucinations in outputs. We all are witness to the incredibly frenetic race to develop AI tools that publicly kicked off on…
Read MoreUniversity budgets across the country are broken. Overall revenue and accumulated financial support appear to be declining at most universities for a wide variety of reasons. New funding policies, administrative reorganizations such as those at the Department of Education, lean fiscal times for states, diminished regard for higher learning, fewer requirements for degrees among employers…
Read MoreWhy higher ed needs to get on board with micro-credentials (University Business)
A new study focusing on employers’ perspectives on micro-credentials reveals that while a strong majority of them believe it boosts a prospective hire’s value, not enough colleges and universities are capitalizing on it. More than 70% of respondents agreed that job applicants with non-degree or alternative credentials have increased the past two years and those hires…
Employers Are All In on Microcredentials, Survey Shows (Inside Higher Ed)
Ninety-five percent of employers see benefits in their employees accruing microcredentials, according to a new survey from Collegis Education and UPCEA, the association for college and university leaders in online and professional continuing education. Among the leaders surveyed from 500 organizations, 76 percent said pursuing microcredentials demonstrates an employee’s willingness to develop their skills, 63 percent said it…
Employer Demand for Microcredentials On the Rise, New Study From UPCEA and Collegis Education Reveals
Nearly 100 percent of organizational leaders see benefits from employees having microcredentials WASHINGTON (February 22, 2023) — Employer demand for microcredentials is on the rise, according to a new study released today by UPCEA, the association for college and university leaders in online and professional continuing education, and Collegis Education. The report, “The Effect of…
IMPORTANT UPDATES – Third-Party Servicer and Recruitment Compensation Updates from US Department of Education | Policy Matters (February 2023)
Major Updates NOTE: This post has been updated since its original publishing to include extended deadlines provided by the Department of Education. Some substantial items for UPCEA members to review from the US Department of Education were announced last week. The long-expected Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on Third-Party Servicers (TPS) and public comment periods on…
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…
Read MoreOver 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…
Read MoreInnovation attracts attention, and not all of it good. Protecting data, students, and credibility now means securing every AI experiment before it secures you. The Bright Side, and the Blind Spots, of AI in Higher Ed AI is higher ed’s new favorite partner and, like any power couple, it comes with complications. It’s rewriting…
Read MoreIs your institution ready to deliver, comply, and compete? This update is intended to highlight key portions of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) that affect colleges and universities. The goal is not to offer opinion, but to bring clarity around the law’s implications—especially the arrival of Workforce Pell. The OBBB is a broad, multi-issue…
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