Amid growing demand for flexible and career-oriented education, online and Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) units are at the forefront of institutional innovation and revenue sustainability. Whether through degree programs, microcredentials, corporate training, or other non-credit offerings, these units play a critical role in expanding access to education and meeting the evolving needs of learners…
Read MoreIn January 2025, the president issued an executive order freezing federal loans and grants, including Pell Grants and other student loans. While the order has since been rescinded, the damage was done. Moving forward, potential students will be wary about the frailty of college loans. There will be uncertainty as to whether college is affordable…
Read MoreWe have entered an era of greater scrutiny and fewer resources in higher education. How might AI enable the deans to become more effective and efficient in administering the college? The challenges are proliferating while funding is deteriorating. Fortunately, the AI options to accomplish more with less funding are expanding. As of the end of…
Read MoreI had the pleasure recently to participate in a lifelong learning session with a group of mostly current or retired educators at my nearby Lincoln Land Community College. The topic was AI in education. It became clear to me that many in our field are challenged to keep up with the rapidly emerging developments in…
Read MoreWhat Does Free Community College Mean for Professional Learning Spaces?
By SmartBrief Editors This post is produced in partnership with UPCEA. The idea of offering free access to community college, and even entire degree programs, has gained steam in recent years. CNBC reports that 11 states in the country offer at least some tuition-free community college programs to qualified students and nine more have…
Coalition Supports FY2020 House Appropriations Bill
UPCEA joined with ACE and 35 other organizations yesterday to send a letter to the House Committee on Appropriations as they were approving spending bills for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education for fiscal year 2020. Today, the House Committee on Appropriations approved its bill, allocating $75.9 billion to the Department of Education…
UPCEA Welcomes Six New Board Members
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2019 – UPCEA, the Washington, D.C.-based association for college and university leaders in professional, continuing, and online education, welcomed one new officer and five new directors to serve on the UPCEA Board of Directors during the 2019 UPCEA Annual Conference. “The Board’s newest members are an impressive group, and the Board Development…
Ray Schroeder: “Universities Have to Change To Meet Students’ Needs” (IBL News)
Professor Emeritus Ray Schroder finds it difficult to stop working. As the Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning at the University of Illinois Springfield and the founding director of the National Council for Online Education at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), he has a lot on his plate. IBL News recently got in…
Over 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 MoreA Movement, Not Just a Community Convergence is emerging as the place where the credential innovation community for higher ed comes together. But more than a community, it’s a movement. Not a movement to make degrees less valuable, let alone obsolete. Rather, it’s a movement to complement degrees by meeting the needs of those for…
Read MoreHigher education institutions are navigating a rapidly evolving search landscape. With so many prospective students turning to search engines to explore programs and make enrollment decisions, universities must ensure their SEO strategies keep pace with these changes. Without a clear SEO strategy, institutions risk losing visibility. According to the Higher Ed SEO Research Study developed…
Read MoreSystems are the processes, people, and technology that make your university run on a day-to-day basis. There are a thousand of them that make up your infrastructure, from recruiting and enrollment to learning design and continuing education. It’s these systems that dictate the experiences your students, staff, and faculty have within your university. As such,…
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