UPCEA Updates

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

UPCEA Virtual Forum Recap: Expanding Institutional Capacity for Employer Engagement in Credential Innovation

By UPCEA | October 6, 2025

September 17, 2025 marked UPCEA’s first-ever Virtual Forum on Employer Engagement and Credential Innovation. The event, curated by Amy Heitzman, Ph.D., UPCEA’s Deputy CEO and Chief Learning Officer, brought together senior leaders in professional, continuing, and online education to examine how institutions can strengthen partnerships with employers and scale credentialing strategies that align with workforce…

UPCEA Publishes “The Future Is Now: Essential Conversations for Building Tomorrow’s University Today” to Guide Higher Education Leaders into a New Era

By UPCEA | October 6, 2025

Advocacy piece serves as a guide for institutional leaders to navigate challenging times WASHINGTON, D.C., ISSUED OCTOBER 6, 2025…UPCEA, the online and professional education association, today announces the release of its latest advocacy piece, “The Future Is Now: Essential Conversations for Building Tomorrow’s University Today.”  Designed to raise awareness of critical questions every campus leader…

Honoring the Life and Legacy of Dr. James P. Pappas

By UPCEA | September 12, 2025

UPCEA joins colleagues, friends, and the broader higher education community in mourning the passing of Dr. James P. Pappas, who dedicated his career to advancing the reach, relevance, and impact of online, professional and continuing education. Dr. Pappas, a former President of UPCEA, was the 1999 Walton S. Bittner Service Citation Award recipient and 2006…

UPCEA’s 2025 Online Education Benchmarking Report Provides Vital Data for University Leaders

By UPCEA | August 12, 2025

Second annual study provides new KPI benchmarks around enrollments, finance, and budget, explores the impact of AI, and provides strategic recommendations for online leaders to thrive in these uncertain times.  WASHINGTON, D.C., ISSUED AUGUST 12, 2025…UPCEA, the online and professional education association, today announced the release of a new research report, “Benchmarking Online Enterprises: Insights…

Synchronizing Pathways: Advancing the National Dialogue on Credentials and Learning Mobility

By UPCEA | July 29, 2025

Incubator grant supports critical work to align data practices and learning mobility frameworks to benefit today’s learners WASHINGTON July 31, 2025 – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, has launched a national initiative to advance credential transparency and learner mobility through improved data quality and institutional capacity-building. The project titled, “Synchronizing Pathways: Expanding Institutional…

UPCEA Recognizes 2025 Award Recipients at the Summit for Online Leadership and Administration Conference (SOLAR)

By UPCEA | July 17, 2025

Association Award Recipients Highlighted at Event WASHINGTON (July 17, 2025) – UPCEA, the online and professional education association, is pleased to recognize the recipients of this year’s online and distance education awards. Award recipients will be showcased at the Summit for Online Leadership and Administration (SOLAR) Conference, July 22-24 in Portland, Oregon. The annual SOLAR…

Unlocking Opportunity: How Tax Policies Like Section 127 Can Drive Employer Partnerships

By UPCEA | July 14, 2025

By Chelsea Miller, UpSkill America, and Amy Heitzman, UPCEA Partnership is a key driver to unlocking opportunity in America, which is why UPCEA and UpSkill America are so excited to come together to help academic institutions understand one particular priority for employers: leveraging tax policies to drive engagement (really!).  UpSkill America focuses on how employers…

Foreword by Bob Hansen Featured in The COLO Guidebook

By UPCEA | July 10, 2025

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…

Other Blogs and News:

Member Benefits You’ll Use Immediately (Not “Nice to Have”)

Joining a professional association should deliver tangible benefits right away — not just perks that look good on paper. For leaders in online and professional continuing education, the difference lies in benefits that solve real-world challenges, such as training teams quickly, validating budget decisions, troubleshooting with peers, and aligning strategy with emerging trends.  The most…

UPCEA Announces 2026-2027 Leadership Team for Council for Credential Innovation

UPCEA, the online and professional education association, announces the 2026-2027 leadership team for the Council for Credential Innovation (CCI). The association extends its gratitude to the 21 member volunteers serving in leadership roles for this body. The Council for Credential Innovation (CCI) and its members focus on leveraging the strategic potential of non-degree credentials, workforce-focused…

From Experimentation to Institutional AI: Early Lessons from UPCEA’s AI Study Groups

Across higher education, the conversation about artificial intelligence has moved rapidly from curiosity to consequence. Institutions are no longer asking only whether AI will affect their work; they are asking how to lead through that change responsibly, strategically, and in ways that advance mission.  That shift is at the center of UPCEA’s AI Study Groups,…

The Affordability Opportunity: Why Adult Learners Are Missing Out on Aid and How We Can Fix It

As leaders in online and professional continuing education, we often find ourselves at the intersection of hope and pragmatism. We see the transformative power of a postsecondary credential for an adult balancing career and family. Yet, we also hear a recurring, disheartening refrain from prospective students: “I simply can’t afford it.” There’s a persistent myth…

UPCEA Releases Guidebook on Employer Engagement and Credential Innovation

New resource provides practical frameworks and tools to help institutions strengthen workforce-aligned credential strategies WASHINGTON (June 2, 2026) — UPCEA, the online and professional education association, today released a new guidebook designed to help colleges and universities strengthen employer partnerships and build institutional capacity for workforce-aligned credential innovation. Developed through a multi-year grant-funded initiative, Expanding…

Workforce Pell Final Regulations Released: What Changed from the Proposed Rule | Policy Matters (May 2026)

Major Updates Workforce Pell Final Regulations Released: What Changed from the Proposed Rule The Department of Education has released the final rule on Workforce Pell Grants and the new Pell Grant exclusion for students whose non-Federal grant and scholarship aid meets or exceeds their cost of attendance. The Department reviewed approximately 440 comments but, in…