For many online and professional continuing education units, the primary barrier to adopting artificial intelligence is not access to tools, it is uncertainty about where to begin and how to proceed without disrupting daily operations. Leaders are often balancing innovation with stability, making it difficult to introduce new approaches without clear structure. A focused, time-bound strategy can reduce that ambiguity. A 90-day adoption…
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…
The spring semester is coming to a close with the normal host of routines. Yet, beneath those routines, something is unfolding in the labor market that will greet your new graduates who will face an incrementally tighter job market. I asked Claude Sonnet 4.6 Extended Thinking to research the tasks relevant to preparing our new…
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…
Department of Education Releases Final Rules on 90/10 Rule, Incarcerated Individuals, Borrower Defense, Debt Relief Programs, Among Others | Policy Matters (October 2022)
Major Updates Submission Form for Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Opens; Accepting Applications Through End of 2023 The application for federal student loan forgiveness for up to $20,000 for eligible individuals opened earlier this month. Though the deadline to submit for forgiveness is December 31, 2023, student loan borrowers are encouraged to submit prior to November…
UPCEA Announces Retirement of Chief Membership Officer Kimberly Zaski, New Staff Additions
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 28, 2022 – UPCEA, the association for leaders in online and professional continuing education, has announced a number of key staff changes. Chief Membership Officer and Vice President, Corporate Partnerships Kimberly Zaski is retiring at the end of the calendar year. She will be replaced by Kathleen Ives, formerly CEO of the…
New Book Turns Lens on Online Education’s ROI Imperative
‘Using ROI for Strategic Planning of Online Education’ explores process for shifting to an ROI mindset amid pressure for higher ed to prove value and relevance WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, October 25, 2022 — Higher education has rarely employed return on investment (ROI) methodology in strategic planning for online education. This may be about to…
2022 UPCEA MEMS Award Recipients Announced
15 Recipients Chosen For Three Award Categories WASHINGTON, D.C., October 20, 2022 — UPCEA, the leader in online and professional continuing education, has announced the recipients of the 2022 Excellence in Enrollment Management Award, Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness in Marketing, Enrollment, and Student Success Award, and the new Excellence in Marketing Award. All…
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,…