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…
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Dear Colleagues, We are looking forward to gathering with you in-person this spring for UPCEA’s Annual Conference and the Summit for Online Leadership and Administration + Roundtable (SOLA+R), April 11-14, 2022 in Orlando, FL, at Disney’s Coronado Springs. For many of us, the Annual Conference and SOLA+R will be the first in-person events since before…
Apply now for free enrollment in January 2022 PCO Pro courses
I’m pleased to share with you a special offer for UPCEA members: a complimentary opportunity for you and your colleagues to join us for an UPCEA professional development course. Our professional development courses and certificates have been enthusiastically endorsed and highly rated by participants. Students have appreciated the opportunity to learn from leaders in the…
Build Back Better Act Gets Pared Down | Policy Matters (October 2021)
Major Updates Build Back Better Act Gets Pared Down President Biden and Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending bill has been pared down to $1.75 trillion in light of a lack of full Democratic party support for the larger amount, and no Republican votes expected. The bill retained measures to significantly fund climate change initiatives and other…
UPCEA Announces 2021 Regional Award Recipients
17 Individuals and 21 Programs Honored Across 5 Regions WASHINGTON, September 29, 2021 – UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the recipients of the 2021 Regional Awards. Each of UPCEA’s five Regions recognizes both individual and institutional achievement of the UPCEA members within the Region. Award recipients will be honored…
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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