UPCEA Updates

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

Reflecting on the 2025 UPCEA CCI Convening: Designing Intentional, Learner-Centric Pathways

By UPCEA | November 24, 2025

At the inaugural UPCEA Council for Credential Innovation (CCI) Convening, leaders from across UPCEA member institutions came together to explore what it means to build truly learner-centric, intentional credential ecosystems—ones that align with institutional mission, ensure financial sustainability, and elevate the student experience. Hosted as the first in-person gathering of CCI representatives, the event served…

Constructing the Future: Why Credential Innovation Needs Bold Leadership

By UPCEA | November 21, 2025

The tagline for Convergence, Credential Innovation in Higher Education, raises two important questions: First, what kind of credentials are we talking about?  Is the scope of credentials unlimited, blue sky, or confined to incremental changes on the margins of the status quo?  And second, who is leading that innovation, and what do they need to…

Learning Mobility in Action: Removing Barriers and Recognizing the Whole Learner

By UPCEA | November 17, 2025

Learning Mobility: A Movement Taking Shape At this year’s AACRAO Technology & Transfer: A Learning Mobility Summit, higher education leaders from UPCEA member institutions gathered to explore a question at the heart of the learner mobility movement: How can postsecondary institutions recognize, record, and reward all learning—wherever and however it occurs? Moderating this conversation alongside…

Convergence in Action: Building Strategic Credential Frameworks Through Collaboration

By UPCEA | November 10, 2025

At Convergence 2025, a conversation unfolded that perfectly captured the spirit of the event—collaboration across boundaries, disciplines, and traditions to create something more unified and learner-centered. In Convergence in Action: Strategic Credential Framework Collaborations Across Campus, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel featuring Elizabeth Kerr and Molly McDermott-Fallon of the University of Cincinnati…

Friday Focus: Nurture Your Career and Yourself

By UPCEA | November 7, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. It’s Friday—a perfect moment to pause, take a breath, and focus on you. Your career, your growth, and your well-being all deserve attention. UPCEA offers ways…

Future-Forward: Trends and Strategic Directions in Online and Professional Education

By UPCEA | November 6, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. Higher education is standing at the edge of rapid transformation, where the choices made today will define the universities of tomorrow. From shifting learner demographics and…

Online Leaders Have a Community — and It’s UPCEA

By UPCEA | November 5, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. Behind every successful online learning initiative is a strong community of leaders who share ideas, solve challenges, and push the field forward together. At UPCEA, that…

Data-Informed Decisions: Why You Need Data and What Data You Should Curate

By UPCEA | November 4, 2025

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, UPCEA is highlighting key resources each day that showcase how online and professional education leaders continue to drive innovation, resilience, and transformation. Data is the language of modern leadership. In an era of constrained resources and heightened accountability, online and professional education leaders can no longer rely on…

Other Blogs and News:

UPCEA Congratulates Members Recognized in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report Ranking of Best Online Bachelor’s Programs

Nineteen of the twenty-three Top 20 Ranked Institutions are UPCEA Members WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 5, 2026) — UPCEA, the online and professional education association, is pleased to congratulate the many UPCEA members recognized in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings. U.S. News rankings include nearly 1,850 online programs, covering bachelor’s…

New Research Highlights a Disconnect Between University Retention Strategies and Adult Learner Priorities

National study from Collegis Education and UPCEA highlights opportunity for institutions to strengthen student persistence through better alignment of strategy, systems, and support WASHINGTON, D.C. and CHICAGO, IL – February 4, 2026 — ​​ As adult learners account for a growing share of higher education enrollment, colleges and universities face increasing pressure to sustain persistence in…

When Institutions Shop Themselves: What We Learn—and Often Miss

As my retirement last year eases into a stage of semi-retirement or what some have labeled as “micro-retirement,” I have had eight months of reflection on my nearly four decades of doing research. After a few months of total abstention, I could no longer keep myself away from the higher education field that I so loved. I slowly eased myself back in by…

Institutional Adoption of Microcredentials Plateaus as Workforce Focus Accelerates, New Study Finds

New study from UPCEA, The EvoLLLution, and Modern Campus highlights the growing importance of strategic alignment to sustain credential innovation TORONTO and WASHINGTON, D.C., February 3, 2026 — Higher education leaders continue to recognize the value of microcredentials for workforce development and professional advancement, but institutional adoption and perceived fiscal impact have stalled, according to…

Consensus Achieved on New Accountability Metrics at AHEAD Negotiated Rulemaking | Policy Matters (January 2026)

Major Updates Education Department AHEAD Negotiated Rulemaking Wraps Up; Consensus Achieved on New Accountability Metrics The Department of Education’s AHEAD negotiated rulemaking committee has now wrapped its winter work with consensus language on the program accountability portion, following the committee’s earlier consensus on Workforce Pell regulatory text. Now that consensus has been reached, ED is…

UPCEA’s Corporate Member Blog Series #1 | Follow the Budget: 5 Areas Where Higher Ed is Spending (and struggling) in 2026

The higher education landscape is arguably the toughest it has been in a generation, marked by economic instability, demographic decline, and the constant imperative for greater efficiency. The 2026 Landscape of Higher Education Report confirms this volatile reality: beginning in 2026, many institutions will face a sustained decline in traditional-aged undergraduates. Enrollment growth is now…