The New Assessment Challenge in Online Learning Generative AI is complicating how we teach working adults in online and professional continuing education. I recently asked a group of educators who teach online about their biggest concerns regarding AI and assessment of student learning. They had many! These educators were worried about: enforcing academic integrity when…
The 2026 State of Continuing Education report makes one thing unmistakably clear: UPCEA member institutions know where they want to go. What they need is help getting there. The findings from this year’s study read less like a progress report and more like a stress test. Microcredential adoption has hit an all-time high (88%). Workforce…
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has floated the idea that the United States Government should become a stockholder in Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies. Yes, actually own shares of the thriving major AI companies! Of course, it is not without precedent that the feds assume partial ownership of private companies. Benjamin D. Connard of Carnegie Investments reports…
Remarkably, in this highly-partisan era of American history, there is a newly-formed, non-partisan association with the stated purpose of “partnering with governors, employers, and training partners to help the American workforce make a successful transition to an AI economy.” This is the first large-scale independent entity formed to address the challenge that is top-of-mind of…
2019-20 UPCEA Benchmarking Research Agenda Announced
How do your programs, staffing and salaries stack up in the dynamic world of professional, continuing and online education? What marketing tactics are your peers using to get enrollments and fill their classes? Do you need solid benchmarking and stats to share with your campus leadership? UPCEA has exciting news—our Chief Research Officer and Center…
A Glance at the Realm of Higher Education
By SmartBrief Editors This post is produced in partnership with UPCEA. Former associate provost for outreach and engagement at the University of Southern Indiana and current vice provost for continuing education at North Carolina State University, Mark Bernhard offers insight into success within the profession of continuing higher education. Question: Tell us about your…
The Commons: Boost your job prospects by “re-creating” vs recreating
Do you ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? If you’re like millions of working adults (meaning, anyone reading this), of course you do. And, while most of us are referring to a lack of time between 9 and 5, the reality is that the most successful people are willing to sacrifice…
2019 UPCEA Marketing and Enrollment Award Recipients Announced
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 1, 2019 — UPCEA, the leader in professional, continuing, and online education, has announced the recipients of the 2019 Excellence in Enrollment Management Award and the 2019 Marketing Awards. The UPCEA Excellence in Enrollment Management Award recognizes an outstanding professional, continuing, and/or online organization (unit or individual) that models best practices and…
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…
Adult learners have become an increasingly important focus for higher education institutions. Today, adult learners are not an emerging population. They are the reality shaping the future of higher education. According to the Risepoint 2026 Voice of the Online Learner report, 89% of online learners work while pursuing their education, including 77% who work full…
Your next prospective student has already formed an impression of your program. They just haven’t visited your website yet. Half of prospective students now use AI tools at least weekly. 79% read Google’s AI Overviews. Before a student fills out an RFI form, an AI tool has likely already answered their questions about your program,…