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…
Can Microcredentials Bring Stop-Outs Back to College? (Inside Higher Ed)
A recent survey of students who stopped out of college suggests that giving them the opportunity to earn microcredentials and academic credit for prior learning could lure them back to higher ed. The survey of roughly 1,100 former students ages 18 to 64 was conducted in June by StraighterLine, an online course provider, and UPCEA, an…
New Survey Suggests Three Strategies To Re-Enroll Adults Who’ve Dropped Out Of College (Forbes)
A new survey of adults who’ve dropped out of college finds that 57% have completed about half or more of the credits needed to complete a degree program. Of this group, the majority indicated they wanted to return to college to finish their degrees. Those are two of the main finding from a survey conducted…
Survey: More than 50 Percent of College Stop-Outs Were at Least Halfway to Finishing at the Time of Withdrawal
New survey commissioned by StraighterLine and UPCEA delves into barriers to re-enrollment; opportunities for institutions seeking to re-engage adults with some college, but no degree WASHINGTON, (OCTOBER 31, 2023) — UPCEA , the online and professional education association, and StraighterLine today released the findings of a new survey focusing on the complex barriers and opportunities…
Final Licensure and Certification Regulations Released; Online Student Location Determinations Updated | Policy Matters (October 2023)
Major Updates The Department of Education (ED) has released final rules on Ability to Benefit, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, and Financial Responsibility. These rules, part of negotiated rulemaking in early 2022, provide new requirements for programmatic accreditation, state licensure, and conforming with state laws when dealing with closure in the context of distance education. 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…
What if a student uses AI to complete an assignment and does it better than they could have done manually? The instinct may be to say the student didn’t do the work. But the workplace may reward the student for doing exactly what the classroom penalized. That creates a different question for higher education: not…
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…