Government Affairs

UPCEA helps provide colleges and universities in the online and professional continuing education field with advocacy and information on regulation and legislation. UPCEA builds greater awareness of the vital link between contemporary learners and public policy issues.

UPCEA Issues Comments on Proposed Negotiated Rulemaking September 2018

September 15, 2018

UPCEA recently commented on the vast undertaking of the rulemaking committee that was proposed by the Department of Education. We find that the proposed depth and breadth of the topics, and the amount of time provided to the committee, coupled with the complexity of those topics and the limited amount of seats at the table…

Letter to Dept of ED on Gainful Employment

September 13, 2018

UPCEA, along with ACE and 20 other higher education groups sent comments to the Department of Education (ED) on the department’s proposal to rescind existing Gainful Employment regulations.  We oppose the Department’s proposal to rescind, instead of revise, the existing gainful employment regulations, and do not believe that simply replacing them with additional disclosures on…

Education Department Announces Substantial Rule-Making Session

July 30, 2018

The Department of Education has announced a negotiated rulemaking committee to prepare regulations for a wide-range of issues pertinent to UPCEA member institutions. The extremely wide range of topics to be discussed include, but is not limited to: State authorization Regular and substantive interaction Definition of “credit hour” Discussion of EQUIP-style programmatic delivery by third-party…

ED Announces Plan to End Gainful Employment Rule

July 27, 2018

The Department of Education through Secretary Betsy DeVos plans to end the regulations which required for-profit and vocational schools to provide “gainful employment” to the students that move through their programs. The regulation was one of the defining for-profit student consumer safeguards put into place by the Obama administration. The rules would cut off federal…

Department of Education Seeks Input on State Authorization Rule Delay

May 25, 2018

As we notified you of a few weeks ago, the Department of Education is seeking to delay the implementation of regulations relating to State authorization that are to go into effect June 1 of this year. The main reasons for the delay were concerns around disclosure issues and student residence for distance education programs and…

Letter to Congressman Denham for Permanent DACA Fix Bill

May 24, 2018

UPCEA joined with ACE and 32 other organizations to thank Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) and other representatives who supported H.Res. 774, thanking them for taking action to provide a permanent solution for Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The resolution uses a House rule known as “Queen of the Hill” to hold votes on four different…

UPCEA is a proud founding member of the Today's Students Coalition.

UPCEA 2025-2026 Policy Committee

Corina Caraccioli, Loyola University New Orleans, Co-Chair
Abram Hedtke, St. Cloud State University, Co-Chair
Bridget Beville, University of Phoenix
Curtis Brant, Bowling Green State University
Kristen Brown, University of Louisville
Amy Collier, Middlebury College
Christopher Davis, University of Maryland Global Campus
Ilona Marie Hajdu, Indiana University
Laura Hendley, Stevenson University
Gloria Niles, University of Hawaii System
Kelly Otter, Georgetown University
Erika Swain, University of Colorado Boulder
Craig Wilson, University of Arizona