The Pulse of Higher Ed

By Bruce Etter

I have always appreciated how honest wood is. Look at a cut stump and the rings tell a story: good years, lean years, drought, recovery. That feels like the right way to read the newly released 2026 State of Continuing Education report from UPCEA, Modern Campus, and The EvoLLLution. As this partnership reaches its five-year mark—the traditional “wood” anniversary—the framing feels especially fitting. Wood symbolizes strength, resilience, and continued growth, and after five years of data, the grain of continuing education is becoming easier to read. 

This year, readers can do more than skim the key takeaways. There is also an interactive version of the report that allows people to explore the charts and move through different dimensions of the data for themselves. That feels fitting, too. After five years, we are not just counting rings, we are studying the grain, testing the joints, and considering what kind of structure higher education is building with continuing education at its core. 

The 2026 ring is a strong one. The report shows continuing education gaining real momentum, especially where workforce alignment is concerned. Microcredentials reached an all-time high, offered by 88% of online and PCE units. Stackable credentials and test or industry credential preparation also hit their highest levels to date. Average enrollment ticked up to 16,046, and continuing education’s reach into corporate, alumni, and government audiences continues to expand. That is not the picture of a side enterprise. It is the picture of a part of the institution that is increasingly central to relevance, responsiveness, and revenue. 

What I also appreciate about this year’s findings is that they do not confuse growth with ease. Anyone who has worked with wood knows that strength is not just about what you can see on the surface. A sturdy beam carries weight because of what is inside it: the density, the grain, the way it has been shaped and supported over time. The same is true in continuing education. Sixty-seven percent of institutions say they are at least somewhat likely to expand short-term, workforce-aligned programs in response to Workforce Pell. Institutions broadly see that as a meaningful opportunity. However, many may not be able to seize that opportunity, at least in the short term, as 42% are not prepared to meet the data collection and reporting requirements that come with it. In other words, the appetite is there, but the infrastructure is not always seasoned enough for the load. 

That tension between ambition and infrastructure appears throughout the report. Leaders clearly understand where the market is going, yet many are short on the supports needed to move at market speed. Thirty percent of units report lacking marketing support, 22% lack instructional designers, and business development gaps remain notable as well. Meanwhile, the biggest barriers to expanding credentials are not the old familiar talking points about faculty resistance. They are concerns about market demand, administrative burden, and time-to-market. That is an important shift. The knots in the wood are no longer at the margins. They are embedded in the operating model. 

The joinery matters, too. Even the strongest wood can fail if the joints are weak, and this report makes clear that too many institutions are still asking continuing education to scale on top of disconnected systems. Only 27% of respondents say their unit’s technology integrates seamlessly with main campus systems. Agreement that other units collaborate with continuing education on program development dropped from 71% in 2025 to 62% in 2026. Only 13% say continuing education offerings are well integrated into the institution’s traditional portfolio. Continuing education may be growing stronger, but too often it is still being bolted onto the institution instead of built into it. 

That is why the wood anniversary is more than a framing device. Wood is strong not because it avoids pressure, but because it grows through it. Over the last five years, this report series has documented a sector weathering pandemic aftershocks, shifting learner demand, new policy possibilities, and persistent technological friction. What the 2026 report makes clear is that the question is no longer whether continuing education should be workforce-aligned, flexible, and outcomes-focused. The question is whether institutions are willing to build the institutional frameworks of staffing structures, data systems, and cross-campus coordination needed to support that ambition. 

Bruce Etter serves as the Senior Director of Research and Consulting at UPCEA, where he leads the development and management of research initiatives for UPCEA’s Research and Consulting division and its clients.