UPCEA Updates

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

A new direction for the Distance Teaching and Learning Conference

By UPCEA | 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

By UPCEA | 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

By UPCEA | 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

By UPCEA | 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

By UPCEA | 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…

Half of Higher Ed Institutions Now Use AI for Outcomes Tracking, But Most Lag in Implementing Comprehensive Learner Records

By UPCEA | October 22, 2024

Survey conducted by Instructure and UPCEA explores the intersection of AI and credentialing in Higher Education SALT LAKE CITY — October 22, 2024 — Instructure, the leading learning ecosystem and UPCEA, the online and professional education association, announced the results of a survey on whether institutions are leveraging AI to improve learner outcomes and manage…

Best Colleges Ranking – 2025 (WalletHub)

By UPCEA | October 16, 2024

Insights from Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA – The Online and Professional Education Association and Professor Emeritus of Communication – University of Illinois Springfield Are Ivy League and other “name- brand” schools worth the high sticker price? Wise consumers of higher education should begin with the outcome. What career or job is your desired…

Motivating Students Who Have Some College but No Credential (Inside Higher Ed)

By UPCEA | October 16, 2024

“A survey of roughly 1,000 learners with some college credits but no credential found that many of these former students distrust higher ed and question the value of a degree. The study, highlighted in a new white paper released Tuesday, was conducted by StraighterLine, an online course provider, and UPCEA, the online and professional education association.…

Other Blogs and News:

From Programs to Ecosystems: Reflections from Misericordia’s Workforce Symposium

Recently, I had the privilege of keynoting UPCEA member Misericordia University’s 2026 Workforce Symposium—an event that brought together institutional leaders, employers, and regional partners to wrestle with one of the most urgent questions facing higher education today: What does it mean to truly align with the workforce—not just in programs, but in purpose? First, deep…

UPCEA’s Corporate Member Blog Series #3 | The Partner Playbook: 5 Ways to Help Universities Win the “Modern Learner”

The “traditional” student is quickly becoming a relic of a bygone era. The future of enrollment is concentrated in new, non-traditional markets: adult learners seeking rapid re-skilling, dual-enrolled high school students, and the millions of Americans with “some college, no credential” who represent a significant scalable opportunity for growth. Universities know they must pivot decisively…

Higher Education at a Crossroads: Leadership, Strategy, and Stewardship

Reflections from a Fireside Chat with President Jon Alger on March 18, 2026 There are moments in this fellowship year that feel distinctly formative—where the conversation you’re facilitating is also, quietly, shaping you. Last week’s fireside chat with American University President Jon Alger was one of those moments for me. As part of my ACE…

The 41 Million SCNC: Why Higher Ed’s Greatest Failure is the Refusal to Recognize Real Life

There has been much discussion about the more than 41 million US learners with “Some College No Credential” (SCNC) over the past several years. Despite a strategic focus by higher education institutions to re-enroll these learners, and with some success, the population has continued to grow. UPCEA hosted a strategic conversation with the Council for…

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Student Recruitment

I recently contributed a chapter in the recently released book, AI Applications in Online Higher Education Administration: Strategies for Maximizing Returns and Improving Outcomes edited by Kathleen Ives, Marie Cini, and Ray Schroeder. This blog highlights key take-aways from my chapter. Higher education recruitment is undergoing one of the most significant transformations in decades. Traditional…

Public Comment Period Opens on Workforce Pell Implementation Rules (Due April 8) | Policy Matters (March 2026)

Major Updates Public Comment Period Opens on Workforce Pell Implementation Rules (Due April 8) The U.S. Department of Education has officially opened the public comment period on proposed regulations to implement Workforce Pell Grants, with comments due April 8, 2026. These grants offer a new federal financial aid pathway that will allow students to use…