UPCEA Updates

Your one-stop shop for the latest Association happenings, plus thoughts from the desk of CEO Bob Hansen.

UPCEA Partners with UALL to Support Global Lifelong Learning Study

December 2, 2024

Comprehensive study to strengthen college and university lifelong learning initiatives WASHINGTON, D.C., December 2, 2024 — UPCEA, the online and professional education association, is proud to support the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL)’s comprehensive global study to help higher education institutions enhance their lifelong learning offerings, The future of lifelong learning: a new study…

UPCEA Releases Groundbreaking Research Report on Online Education in Higher Education

November 19, 2024

New annual study provides key benchmarks, insights and recommendations for advancing online learning.   WASHINGTON (Nov. 19, 2024) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, today announced the release of a new research report, “Benchmarking Online Enterprises: Insights into Structures, Strategies, and Financial Models in Higher Education.” The report, based on a comprehensive survey…

Using Technology to Transform Higher Education

November 11, 2024

The rapid evolution of technology is reshaping industries across the globe, and higher education is no exception. According to a 2023 survey by Inside Higher Ed, 73% of higher education institutions’ chief information officers believe digital transformation is crucial to their success in the next five years. As colleges and universities face a shifting landscape—characterized…

A new direction for the Distance Teaching and Learning Conference

November 7, 2024

Over the last three years, UPCEA engaged in an innovative partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Madison to enable the latter’s Distance Teaching and Learning (DT&L) conference to continue under UPCEA’s leadership. The partnership’s goals included making this valuable event for the distance learning community more sustainable and accessible to online practitioners focused on teaching and…

UPCEA Announces 2025 Association Award Recipients

November 4, 2024

8 Individuals and 7 Programs Receive Association’s Highest Honors WASHINGTON, November 4, 2024 – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, has announced the recipients of the 2025 Association Awards. The UPCEA Association Awards program includes recognition of both individual and institutional achievement across the UPCEA membership. Since 1953, UPCEA has recognized its members’ outstanding…

UPCEA Launches Virtual Week to Celebrate Membership and Expand Connections

October 30, 2024

Higher Education Institutions Invited to Join the Leading Association in Online and Professional Education Washington, D.C. (October 30, 2024) – UPCEA, the association for online and professional education, proudly announces its upcoming week-long virtual event celebrating the impact of membership and invites higher education institutions to become members. Taking place from Wednesday, November 13 through…

Beyond Degrees: How Credential Innovation is Closing the Gap for 42 Million Learners

October 24, 2024

A Movement, Not Just a Community Convergence is emerging as the place where the credential innovation community for higher ed comes together. But more than a community, it’s a movement. Not a movement to make degrees less valuable, let alone obsolete. Rather, it’s a movement to complement degrees by meeting the needs of those for…

UPCEA Announces Selection of Peer Learning Leaders to Drive Innovation in Skills-Based Credentialing

October 23, 2024

Six individuals selected for grant-funded work helping advance University-to-Business credential innovation strategies WASHINGTON (October 23, 2024) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, is thrilled to announce the selection of six individuals to be Peer Learning Leaders for the association’s grant-funded “Expanding Institutional Capacity for Employer Engagement in Credential Innovation” project. The project will…

Other Blogs and News:

COLO Compass | States Need to Know What Online Learning Costs Before Deciding What It’s Worth

COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. Georgia put a question on the table that every state should be asking: What does online education actually cost? Earlier this year, Georgia’s state Senate proposed paying public colleges roughly 91 cents for every dollar of online instruction relative to campus instruction, meaning online…

How Institutions Build Strong Noncredit and Professional Education Portfolios

Noncredit and professional education has moved from the margins of the institution to the center of enrollment and workforce strategy. As traditional pipelines tighten and adult learners look for faster, skills-focused options, colleges and universities are rethinking what they offer beyond the degree. Yet a scattered collection of one-off courses often do not deliver lasting…

When Leadership Leaves a Mark: Moving Forward After a Difficult Institutional Experience

Leadership is not defined only by the circumstances we encounter, but also by how we learn from them and determine what comes next.  Higher education leaders often accept positions because they believe in an institution’s mission and see opportunities to make a meaningful difference. They bring experience, professional judgment, and a commitment to supporting students,…

UPCEA Announces Indiana State University as 2026 Jim Fong Grant Recipient

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 10, 2026 — UPCEA is pleased to announce that the 2026 Jim Fong Grant for Advancing Online and Professional Education has been awarded to Indiana State University. Indiana State’s project will use a landscape survey and regional data analysis to find where the university is best positioned to build stackable, non-credit-to-credit credential…

COLO Compass | Who Leads Next? Building the Pipeline of Online Leaders

COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. Throughout National Distance Learning Week, I’ve written about how much online learning leaders are now expected to handle: AI governance, the financial case for online education, relationships with policymakers, financial aid fraud, and operations that extend well beyond their own units. The question for…

COLO Compass | The COLO’s Job Got Bigger. Has the Authority Kept Up?

COLO Compass: Evidence and practical direction for chief online learning officers. When UPCEA published its 2016 Hallmarks, online education was still moving from innovation to mainstream adoption, and a central challenge was legitimizing it. The 2026 Hallmarks of Excellence in Digital Learning Enterprises begin from a different premise. As Vickie Cook, a contributing editor of…