Online and Professional Continuing Education News
See below for a listing of curated news articles of the day brought to you by Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA.
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- Why We Haven’t Measured College-Level Learning - Doug Lederman, Inside Higher EdIn the next couple of weeks, I’ll explain why we’ve historically tried (and failed) to measure learning and the importance of doing so now. Provide my early, and undoubtedly imperfect, ideas about how we might do that. And, importantly, distinguish what I’m envisioning from the accreditation- and accountability-driven “assessment” that a lot of you (not […]
- IRS tax plan could imperil college finances, Moody’s says - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed DiveThe Trump administration’s recent proposal to revoke the tax-exempt status of private nonprofit colleges over their diversity efforts could bring steep financial consequences for institutions, according to a report out this week from Moody’s Ratings. Analysts with the ratings agency said widespread loss of tax status was “unlikely,” on the assumption that most institutions would […]
- Cultivating Student Resilience: Practical Strategies for Well-Being - Lee Lipton, Faculty FocusThe introduction of self-regulation and stress-management strategies into higher education curricula has recently come into focus as a necessary component of promoting resilience and preventing future professional burnout (Hsu & Goldsmith, 2021; Egan et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2025). In addition to enhancing academic performance, evidence-based regulation strategies could help mitigate the effects of […]
- Rutgers Law School Launches Online J.D. Program, Expanding Access to a Rutgers Legal Education Nationwide - RutgersBeginning in 2027, Rutgers Law School will offer a new answer to those questions. The school is launching an Online J.D. program that combines live online classes, flexible coursework, and periodic in-person learning experiences, creating a pathway for students who want to earn a law degree while balancing careers, caregiving responsibilities, military service, community commitments, […]
- Rebuilding Higher Education’s Capacity to Respond - Emily Donnelli Sallee, EvolllutionAcademic agility shifts the conversation to an institution’s core mission of teaching and learning and frames financial sustainability as the outcome, rather than the objective, of a well-functioning higher education organization. When institutions get academic agility right, it becomes second nature. Academic agility allows institutions to continue evolving our missions and educational models to meet […]
- Moving Beyond the Trend Line in Continuing Education - Derek Tannis, EvolllutionContinuing education leaders now depend on forecasting more than ever. Formerly reliable indicators point in different directions. Once financial, operational and learner realities intersect, stable trends become harder to read. Enrollment may hold steady while margins tighten. Labor market demand may rise while staffing capacity weakens. A program may meet familiar success measures yet become […]
- Students re-imagine AI through Hastings Initiative - Emma Landry, Bowdoin OrientThe Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity, a $50 million initiative funded by Bowdoin alumnus and Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, emerged with an ambitious mission: “exploring, understanding and ethically guiding the transformative power of artificial intelligence.” The initiative’s priorities include hiring ten new faculty members across academic disciplines, funding faculty research and supporting teaching and […]
- NC State Receives $20 Million Grant to Develop New AI-Enabled Learning Technologies - Matt Shipman, North Carolina StateThe National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded North Carolina State University a five-year, $20 million grant to support research on artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can generate interactive narratives effective at engaging K-12 students and improving learning. The grant is a renewal of a previous five-year, $20 million award that established the NSF AI Institute for […]
- As an academic scientist in the U.S., I’m learning to live with uncertainty - Violeta J. Rodriguez, ScienceI reread the email I had drafted to my department chair one last time. Then I read it again, and finally clicked “send.” The message itself was short: I wanted to pursue tenure 3 years ahead of the usual timeline. A changing political and funding landscape had made the future of my health equity research […]
- University of North Texas to Open College of AI, Analytics - Milla Surjadi, The Dallas Morning NewsThe University of North Texas will establish a college of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics after receiving a $20 million gift, it announced Tuesday. The philanthropic investment comes from Vikas Sinha, a UNT alumnus and vice president of the mainframe software division at Broadcom, a semiconductor and infrastructure manufacturer, and his wife, Anuradha. As UNT […]
- University of Utah could cut up to 15% of staff ahead of future enrollment drops - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed DiveUniversity of Utah leaders plan to slash staff positions by 5% to 15% over the next year as the institution faces what it described as “some of the most significant challenges in its 176-year history.” The staff eliminations would amount to between 250 and 855 jobs, cuts that could include layoffs as well as attrition […]
- Business, government and education leaders try to reinvent college from scratch - Jon Marcus, Hechinger ReportCalled the Greenway Institute — “green” as in new — the project will adopt instructional methods proven to work well, such as real-world training under the supervision of faculty mentors, while stripping away the frills, distractions and layers of bureaucracy that make college in America so expensive. “It’s not fancy. It’s a place where you […]
- Columbia and JED partner on teen mental health safeguards for AI - ETIHColumbia University’s Technology & Democracy Initiative and The Jed Foundation have formed a partnership focused on how AI systems respond to teenagers experiencing emotional distress or suicidal thoughts. The project brings together AI safety specialists and mental health and suicide prevention experts, two groups the partners say increasingly work on the same problems but still […]
- More than half of colleges show signs of money problems. Students will suffer the consequences: Many schools will resort to laying off faculty, cutting services and increasing prices - Marina Villeneuve, Hechinger ReportHigher education has faced fiscal headwinds in recent years as hundreds of institutions grapple with declining enrollment because of demographic trends and growing public skepticism about the value of a college degree. Trump policies targeting international students and cutting federal research funding made the financial situation more dire, as have new caps to graduate student […]
- Post-Pandemic, Online Ed Has ‘Staying Power’ - Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher EdNew federal data shows that about 53 percent of college students have taken an online course since 2022, compared to 36 percent in 2019. New federal data shows that about 53 percent of college students have taken an online course since 2022, compared to 36 percent in 2019. The surge in online enrollment forced by […]
- Big School Districts Pause AI Access at School - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher EdReaders of this column know that I generally constrain topics to higher education, however, the practices of school districts impact colleges and universities. When school boards decide to take a step backward by removing effective educational and research tools that students and teachers may use, students are the ones who suffer. Yet, in recent weeks, the […]
- Online university draws students with flexibility and training programs - NISHINIPPON SHIMBUN, Japan TimesDistance-learning universities in Japan, once largely seen as places where working adults could pursue higher education and broaden their knowledge, are increasingly becoming an option for students fresh out of high school. A striking example is Zen University, an online university opened by nonprofit Nippon Foundation and education company Dwango in April 2025. Over 4,000 […]
- AI can help universities keep pace with jobs market demand - Antoine Casanova-Mazet, University World NewsUniversities have always promised to prepare students for the world beyond graduation. The challenge today is that this world is changing faster than traditional curriculum processes were designed to handle. In many institutions, employability alignment still relies on periodic programme reviews, advisory boards, employer roundtables, graduate surveys and informal industry conversations. These mechanisms remain valuable. […]
- Penn State joins national initiative to strengthen manufacturing workforce - Penn StatePenn State is among eight universities selected to join a national initiative focused on preparing the future generation of workers to advance American manufacturing. The program is a collaborative partnership between higher education, industry and government to prepare the workforce for the future of manufacturing President Neeli Bendapudi joined colleagues and government officials for the […]
- The human skills at a premium in the age of AI - McKinseyAs AI takes rote tasks off employees’ plates, the work that remains can require greater judgment and critical thinking—and be more cognitively demanding. “The rise of AI doesn’t mean we all suddenly delegate our responsibilities for quality control and critical thinking,” says Kate Smaje, McKinsey senior partner and global leader of technology and AI, in […]
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