UPCEA Updates

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

The UPCEA Community: Advancing Online and Professional Education

By UPCEA | April 17, 2023

The UPCEA community is a lot of things – innovative and collaborative, fearless and forward-looking. It’s a community of colleagues who share innovative solutions to vexing challenges. A community of entrepreneurs, working together to expand the frontiers of learning. It’s a community made up of all of us.  This community is part of a great…

Despite high interest, continuing education programs are sputtering (University Business)

By UPCEA | March 23, 2023

Professional continuing education looked particularly enticing to colleges and universities in the wake of the pandemic and the staggering enrollment numbers that followed. With traditional enrollment taking a hit, higher education had to find new avenues to enroll learners, and these types of programs seemed to provide the flexibility that fits into almost every lifestyle.…

Colleges want to expand continuing education but don’t devote resources, survey says (Higher Ed Dive)

By UPCEA | March 23, 2023

Dive Brief: Continuing and online education programs offered by traditional brick-and-mortar colleges endure staffing issues, high administrative workloads and challenges accessing real-time student data. That’s according to an annual survey from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, and Modern Campus, a higher ed software provider. Among surveyed college employees, 71% said their institutions’ senior leaders supported…

Continuing-education leaders need more data and better tech, says report (EdScoop)

By UPCEA | March 23, 2023

The continuing education arms of colleges and universities are poorly integrated into institutional systems and resources, according to survey findings published Wednesday by the software firm Modern Campus. Non-degree credentials and certificates are an important revenue stream for universities and colleges, but many continuing education leaders said they don’t have enough staff, systems or investment,…

Creating Noncredit to Credit Pathways

By UPCEA | March 6, 2023

Alternative credential experts identify the conditions necessary to design and deliver noncredit to credit pathways at postsecondary institutions. Over the course of 2022, the Typology, Terminology, and Standards Subcommittee[1] of the Council for Credential Innovation discussed the conditions necessary to create noncredit to credit pathways at postsecondary institutions. Their deliberations eventually narrowed to noncredit learning…

As Colleges Focus on Quality in Online Learning, Advocates Ask: What About In-Person Courses? (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

By UPCEA | March 6, 2023

As colleges’ online catalogs grow, so too has the push to develop standards of quality for those courses. But are in-person classes getting the same attention? If you ask many online-education advocates, the answer is “no.” While decades of research and the pandemic-spurred expansion of online learning have helped demystify it and build confidence in…

Microcredentials Confuse Employers, Colleges and Learners (Inside Higher Ed)

By UPCEA | March 3, 2023

Reskilling. Upskilling. Certificates. Certifications. Badges. Licenses. Microcredentials. Alternative credentials. Digital credentials. So many terms. So little agreement on what they mean, least of all in higher ed. “Employers say, ‘It’s great that this individual has these skills, but we’ll ask our own questions to verify the learner’s knowledge,’” Kyle Albert, assistant research professor at the…

Survey Reveals Employers’ Views on Microcredential Benefits, Concerns (Campus Technology)

By UPCEA | March 1, 2023

These days, the majority of employers are aware of microcredentials and other non-degree credentials, according to a new study from Collegis Education and UPCEA, the association for higher education professionals in online and continuing education. Out of 510 organizational leaders surveyed, 95% reported being at least somewhat familiar with microcredentials, and more than two-thirds (69%) said they were…

Other Blogs and News:

Foreword by Bob Hansen Featured in The COLO Guidebook

We are pleased to share the foreword by UPCEA CEO Bob Hansen from the newly released Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook: A Framework for Strategy and Practice in Higher Education. The guidebook, now available from Routledge in paperback, hardback, and eBook formats, provides a comprehensive framework for today’s online learning leaders. Learn more and purchase…

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The Compensation Compass: Navigating Professional Value with the 2024 UPCEA Salary Survey

If you’ve ever set out on a hike without a map and compass, you know the feeling: creeping uncertainty about whether you’re still on the trail, how far you’ve come, and how far you have to go. In 2017, when I was walking from Mexico to Canada, the snow level in the Sierra Mountains was…

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International Student Visa Review Resumes, Social Media Vetting Instituted | Policy Matters (June 2025)

Major Updates Trump Administration Resumes Embassy Review on Student Visas, Implements Social Media Vetting Requirements The Trump Administration has lifted its pause on F‑, M‑, and J‑visa processing but simultaneously unleashed sweeping new social-media vetting requirements: all international student applicants must now make their Facebook, X, Instagram and other accounts public for consular review, with…

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UPCEA Announces Updates to Board of Directors

June 25, 2025 – WASHINGTON — UPCEA, the online and professional education association, announces recent updates to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Susan Seal, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies at Mississippi State University, has been appointed to serve as a Director At-Large, filling the remainder of the 2025–2026 term…

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Results of Global Lifelong Learning Study Released

UPCEA supported the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL)’s comprehensive global study. WASHINGTON (June 18, 2025) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, today announced the release of an international study, “Making lifelong learning central to university strategy,” conducted by the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL) and CarringtonCrisp.  UPCEA (alongside EUCEN) is proud…

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New Book Offers Strategic Blueprint for the Decade of the Chief Online Learning Officer

UPCEA and Routledge Publish Landmark Guide to Elevating Online Education Leadership WASHINGTON (June 17, 2025) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, proudly announces the release of The Chief Online Learning Officers’ Guidebook: A Framework for Strategy and Practice in Higher Education (co-published with Routledge). This essential new volume, co-edited by two of the…

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