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.

Appropriations Bill Supports Greater Pell and Research Funding

March 22, 2018

Congress today passed the FY18 Omnibus Appropriations Bill which included increased support to the Pell Grant program, which is projected to help over 7 million low-income families afford college. It does this by raising the maximum award by $175 (to $6,095), maintaining the recent Year Round Pell expansion that UPCEA has advocated for over the…

Influencing Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act

February 23, 2018

UPCEA joined with other organizations to submit the following principles regarding the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, in response to the Senate HELP Committee call for comments on February 13: Do no harm. Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) should be used to clearly and unambiguously improve student aid for students. The…

Letter to Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi on PROSPER Act

February 15, 2018

UPCEA, along with ACE and 37 other higher education associations wrote a letter to Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on H.R. 4508, the Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform Act (PROSPER), expressing reservations with the bill and advocating for a reauthorization that enhances the ability of students to enter…

Coalition Pens Letter on PROSPER Act

December 19, 2017

The National Adult Learner Coalition wrote a letter to US House of Representatives leadership of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding H.R. 4508, Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform (PROSPER) Act, and our concerns. We are particularly concerned about this bill’s major structural changes to federal financial aid, and…

UPCEA Joins Cautionary Chorus on House HEA Legislation

December 11, 2017

National Adult Learner Coalition weighs in on PROSPER Act House HEA Legislation movement UPCEA, along with the National Adult Learner Coalition, joined with many other higher education organizations to join in chorus to urge cautious and deliberative movement on the US House of Representative’s push for a re-authorization of the Higher Education Act, H.R. 4508,…

Letter to Finance Committee on Senate Tax Plan

November 14, 2017

UPCEA, along with ​ACE, and nearly 50 other higher education associations sent this letter to Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) regarding the higher education provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1). The groups write they are concerned about provisions in the bill…

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