There’s a moment from my college days I remember more clearly than any midterm I ever took. I had stepped away from my bachelor’s degree at Penn State because I wanted to live a little. I’d grown up in the same town that I went to college and I just needed an extended reprieve, something…
Read MoreIs your online and professional continuing education unit looking for ways to improve job-market outcomes for graduates and alumni? Are you exploring strategies that better align your program portfolio with the skills business and industry leaders say they need both for new hires and for upskilling current employees? Recent employer data provides a clear signal that high-demand employees are ones with verified AI skills and practical experience. A 2025…
Read MoreAgentic AI is no longer merely an interactive tool we talk to; it is a colleague that acts for us. In a very active and highly competitive environment, AI has grown at breakneck speed. As with so many technologies, business and industry have moved far faster than academe to embrace the cost savings, capability expanding…
Read MoreAI in Higher Ed Will Come Slowly, Until All of a Sudden! Higher education is, by nature, very slow to change. So it is with embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI). Yet, when it finally comes, the changes will come in an avalanche. In discussions with faculty and staff, I have encountered some reluctance to take AI…
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92% of Higher Education Leaders Say Microcredentials Support Institutional Competitiveness
New study from UPCEA and Modern Campus highlights the opportunity for colleges and universities to improve enrollments and student workforce readiness TORONTO and WASHINGTON, D.C., July 20, 2021 — Higher education leaders across North America are citing the value of alternative and microcredentials to support competitiveness and enrollment growth, according to a survey conducted by…
Negotiated Rulemaking Kicks Off | Policy Matters (June 2021)
Major Updates Negotiated Rulemaking Kicks Off “Commenters at the public hearing addressed topics related to federal student aid, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness, widespread debt cancellation and the responsibility of for-profit institutions. The Department of Education began its negotiated rule-making process Monday (June 21) by holding the first of three days of public hearings, with…
The Benefits of Higher-Order Multiple-Choice Tests (Inside Higher Ed)
In an excellent column, Ray Schroeder, senior fellow for the Association of Leaders in Online and Professional Education, laments the tendency for many instructors to rely on text-specific test banks as source material for student assessment. Not only are these inquiries susceptible to cheating, he says, they assess lower-order, nonlocalized and therefore less relevant knowledge like…
UPCEA Announces New Leadership and Name for Chief Online Learning Officer Group
Council for Chief Online Learning Officers (C-COLO) is the body for senior leaders charged with driving online strategy at the unit or campus level WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 23, 2021) — UPCEA, the association for college and university leaders in professional, continuing, and online education, announced today that its body for chief online learning officers 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…
Read MoreWe 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 MoreIntroduction Higher education is at a crossroads, marked by declining public trust, diminishing enrollments, substantial budget cuts, and increased scrutiny on post-college outcomes. Recent research from UPCEA underscores growing skepticism about the value of traditional degrees, driving institutions and learners alike to explore innovative educational pathways and revenue models (UPCEA, 2025). To address these challenges…
Read MoreOnline programs are no longer a nice-to-have. They are essential, with many schools looking to online as their primary growth lever amid market headwinds. A strong portfolio of online programs can allow institutions to grow enrollment, reach new student populations, and future-proof their offerings. But building, launching, and sustaining a successful online program operation requires…
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