Universities are among the most durable institutions human beings have ever created. While a scholar from the Middle Ages might have found parts of the modern campus bewildering, they would still recognize the basic form: experts at the front of rooms, students organized into courses, knowledge divided into disciplines, credentials awarded after examinations. For all the technological change around them, universities have remained remarkably stable because their core product has always depended on something difficult to capture and mechanise: expert tacit knowledge. For that same reason, they are now about to be transformed. The real significance of artificial intelligence is not that it can write essays, summarize documents, or answer emails. It is that, for the first time in history, machines can capture tacit knowledge: the practical, experience-based know-how that experts possess but cannot fully explain. It is this tacit knowledge that has made doctors, lawyers, professors, and other experts so valuable in the current economy. Machines could not do what we ourselves could not write down. Machine learning changed that.
Professional, Continuing, and Online Education Update by UPCEA
Daily updates of news, research and trends by UPCEA
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Monday, June 22, 2026
Leading the Era of AI - Michael Malone, Higher Ed Dive
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has pushed higher education to a crossroads, and a paradigm shift is required. Universities who expect to lead in this new AI-shaped landscape must reimagine higher education as a hyper-personalized journey for students, enabled by AI, interactive data, predictive analytics, and adaptive technologies from end to end. Integrating AI into every fiber of the educational experience is essential to this approach. Yet it begs a complement, one that emphasizes “human judgment in the AI era” to foster leaders who don’t just follow AI-driven outputs, but possess the critical thinking and judgment to explain, defend, or override them.
What colleges must learn now from the Canvas cyberattack - Steven W. Teppler and Carly Rothstein, University Business
The incident highlights a challenge many institutions have yet to fully confront: cybersecurity accountability does not disappear simply because data resides within a vendor-managed environment. Modern learning management platforms are now institutional environments containing years of communications, uploads, archived coursework, student interactions, advising discussions, accommodation-related exchanges, and operational records. The lesson is that universities now face a form of distributed digital liability in which institutional risk extends well beyond campus boundaries. Data may reside with third-party vendors, cloud providers, integrations, faculty-created repositories, archived course environments, and decentralized academic systems with limited visibility into what information remains accessible, retained, or duplicated.
Friday, June 19, 2026
Americans looking for proof of the value of higher ed - Matt Zalaznick, University Business
Americans need some convincing about the true value of higher ed. They “haven’t given up on college,” but institutions need to prove that what students learn will lead to civic and economic opportunities, says a new analysis. And the most important place to provide that evidence is in the communities surrounding campus, says the report, “Trust in Higher Education Starts Local,” from C&S (Campus and Community Solutions), a civic education nonprofit.“Higher ed doesn’t have a PR problem. It has a proof problem,” says the organization that surveyed more than 2,400 adults in the U.S. to examine attitudes toward colleges and universities—and to chart a path forward.
A framework for ensuring student AI proficiency - Margaret Ellis, Times Higher Education
Over the past few semesters, I have structured my teaching around a framework that helps students build that capability: demystify, use and reflect. Many students arrive with strong opinions about AI but only a partial understanding of how these systems work. Some see them as nearly magical tools that can produce answers instantly. Others dismiss them as unreliable or assume they are only useful for technical specialists. Demystifying AI begins with explaining the basic ideas behind large language models (LLMs) and related systems. We show students how these models are trained, what kinds of data they rely on and why their outputs can sometimes appear confident even when they are incorrect.
The state of international enrollment in 6 charts - Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive
Last summer, financial analysts predicted that the Trump administration’s restrictions on international enrollment and increased scrutiny of foreign students would create financial risk for colleges. They argued that those policies tarnish the reputational shine of U.S. higher education and could have an outsized impact on tuition revenue, as international students often pay full price. nrollment data has done little to assuage those concerns. Even before President Donald Trump retook office lastE year, growth in international enrollment in the U.S. had slowed after rebounding following the pandemic.
Thursday, June 18, 2026
Transforming Enrollment Management in the Field of Online Learning - Vickie S. Cook, OLC Online Learning Journal
The landscape of enrollment management in higher education related to all modalities of learning is undergoing a significant transformation driven by evolving student expectations, shifting demographics, and the necessity for institutions to optimize operational efficiency. Traditionally centered on human-driven processes and relational strategies, enrollment management for online learning enterprises must now integrate advanced technologies such as Business Process Automation (BPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) to remain effective and competitive. This manuscript for online learning administrators and enrollment management leaders will explore the systems-level continuum from Business Process Mapping (BPM) to AI-driven functionality, highlighting the strategic evolution of enrollment operations within the field of online learning.
UPCEA Releases Guidebook on Employer Engagement and Credential Innovation
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 Institutional Capacity for Employer Engagement in Credential Innovation provides higher education leaders with practical frameworks, implementation tools, and practitioner-informed strategies for advancing University-to-Business (U2B) engagement. The guidebook builds on UPCEA’s ongoing multi-year credential innovation initiative focused on accelerating the development and delivery of workforce-responsive, noncredit credentials and skills-based learning pathways.
Remote work — not AI — has sidelined recent college graduates, research finds - Andrea Hsu, NPR
The buzz on college campuses is that AI is disrupting the job market for young college graduates. But new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that the culprit may be something else: remote work. An analysis of federal employment data, paired with a deep dive into the flexible work arrangements at one unnamed Fortune 500 tech company, reveals that companies are less likely to hire recent college grads into occupations that can be done remotely. Researchers speculate that employers are reluctant to put such workers in a setting where it's harder to absorb lessons from coworkers.
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Coursera Launches Its Short-Form Content With AI Curation - Edited by Adam Harrie, this article was written with the assistance of AI; Trend-Hunter
Coursera introduced a scrollable short-form content feed that delivers bite-sized educational videos and explainers, featuring AI-driven personalization tailored to users’ interests, learning habits, career goals and previous course activity. The company positioned the feature as an entry point to deeper learning experiences rather than a replacement for full-length courses and certification programs.The feed surfaces content across subjects such as coding, data science, business, productivity and personal development, while continuously adapting recommendations based on user engagement and learning behavior. The design mirrors recommendation-driven content platforms, emphasizing discoverability and short-form learning experiences.
What is CourseAI? - Moodle
CourseAI is a Moodle solutions plugin that turns a topic description or a set of uploaded materials into a fully structured course in under three minutes. Feed it a PDF, a video, an audio file or a simple prompt — and it generates sections, activities, assessments, completion tracking and even illustrations. Educators then review, adjust and make it their own.
How it works - CourseAI follows three simple steps:
Prompt. Choose your subject or upload existing materials — a PDF, audio or video file — to use as the foundation for your course.
Generate. Select your scripting options and let CourseAI do the work. Results arrive in under three minutes, built on the ABC Learning Design method.
Create. Review the generated structure, adjust anything that needs it, and publish. Then CourseAI’s job is done — the course is all yours.
Explaining reported generative AI engagement in higher education: an extended TAM with ethical compatibility and reliance-based trust - Zhenyu Liu, et al: Nature
The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools into higher education has intensified conversations regarding usefulness, ethical alignment, and responsible engagement. Unlike traditional technology acceptance studies that focus on initial use, this study examines AI use intensity among active university users. Building on an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the model incorporates AI-Alignment Construct, reliance-based trust in AI outputs, and normative alignment within academic contexts. Data were collected from 637 university students and analyzed using variance-based structural equation modeling. The results indicate that perceived usefulness remains the strongest predictor of AI use. Furthermore, reliance-based trust and AI-Alignment Construct demonstrate statistically significant correlations with engagement, whereas moderation hypotheses were not supported.
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Where today's job seekers have the best chance of getting hired - Mark Huffman, Consumer Affairs
If you're looking for the fastest path to employment, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, and tourism-related businesses are leading the way. Leisure and hospitality added roughly 70,000 jobs in May, making it the strongest-performing sector by a wide margin. Employers appear to be ramping up staffing ahead of the summer travel season. Healthcare continues to be one of the most reliable sources of job growth in the U.S. economy. The sector added between 35,000 and 47,000 jobs in May, depending on the data series cited, continuing a multiyear hiring trend fueled by an aging population and persistent demand for medical services. Local government hiring surged in May, adding approximately 55,000 jobs. Schools, public services, and municipal agencies accounted for much of the increase.
Online Is a "Safe Space" in War - Robert Ubell, AI Learning Insights Substack
When remote classes were first tested so many years ago, who would have dreamed they would become a refuge for students and faculty cut off from campus by traumatic conflict? When the U.S. and Israel unexpectedly launched a war with Iran in late February, American colleges with branches in the Middle East took cues from the global Covid epidemic, closing campuses, moving everything online.1 Qatar ordered all schools and universities to switch to distance learning on the first day of the conflict. By late March, after Iran threatened that U.S. campuses were legitimate targets, American campuses in the country—including those run by Georgetown, Virginia Commonwealth, and Texas A&M—had moved online-only, where they remain.2 Universities in Ukraine and Gaza also found a haven in remote education, moving to digital learning to maintain classes. Online education has assumed a grim challenge for which it was never intended, securing higher education for students as campuses crumble under attack. In Gaza, for example, despite the destruction of nearly all universities in the zone, learning and academic life continues remarkably online.
92% of US employers willing to offer higher starting salaries to graduates with micro-credentials - Business Wire
New Coursera report highlights growing ROI on industry micro-credentials for learners, employees, and employers
79% of US employers say micro-credential holders demonstrate improved productivity in their first year
85% of US graduates with micro-credentials report securing a role aligned to their field within 12 months
“Over the next decade, over 1.2 billion people are due to enter the global workforce, while 60% of the world’s existing workforce will also require reskilling,” said Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer, Coursera. “This report provides clear evidence that job-relevant industry micro-credentials are helping to meet an unprecedented demand for skills, and providing tangible ROI for students, employers, and universities that offer them.”
Monday, June 15, 2026
New Federal Guidelines Threaten Almost Half of Graduate Arts Programs - Zachary Small, NY Times
The Education Department is finalizing guidelines for an earnings test that would punish nearly half of all graduate programs in visual arts, music and performance based on the low income of recent alumni, according to the government’s calculations. The proposed guidelines apply to all university programs, and institutions whose alumni fail to meet them twice in three years could lose their ability to enroll students using federal loans. Those students would most likely need to transfer to other programs or quit their education. According to experts, that would lead to a sharp decrease in enrollment and the likelihood of school closures. For master’s degree programs, the agency would calculate the earnings of alumni four years after graduation to see whether they earn more than the median salary for working adults aged 25 to 34 who have a bachelor’s degree. Previous tests measured all programs against the salary of working adults with high school diplomas — a lower threshold for universities to pass.
Higher ed’s next crisis won’t start in the classroom. It will start in the cloud - James L. Norrie, University Business
Higher education has spent years worrying about enrollment cliffs, declining public trust, political polarization, and, as we enter the AI era, the commoditization of knowledge and the future value of degrees. Those concerns are real and deserve attention. But another crisis is quietly forming beneath the surface of nearly every college and university, and unlike many institutional challenges, this one may arrive globally and all at once, in a wave of distrust and disruption. This month’s breach involving the Canvas learning management platform was a stark warning. The immediate discussion focused on familiar questions: Who was responsible? Was the institution or the software vendor liable? Could FERPA violations emerge if protected student information had been exposed? Even institutions not directly impacted by the incident should pay attention because the uncomfortable answer to many of those questions is some version of “yes.”
The board’s role in managing emerging AI risks - McKinsey
During a recent panel discussion, McKinsey and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) gathered top chief information security officers (CISOs) and board directors, highlighting four priorities for effective oversight: strengthening governance and accountability, balancing innovation with risk, building real-time risk-management capabilities, and improving AI fluency in the boardroom. Together, these shifts signal that AI is no longer just a technology topic; it is now a core enterprise risk and strategic differentiator (see sidebar, “On the street: Sights and sounds from the world’s largest cybersecurity conference”).
Saturday, June 13, 2026
Reimagining What Higher Education Can Be - Kristen Turner, Drew University
Students increasingly need skills that extend beyond traditional academic disciplines. They need to learn how to collaborate, solve complex problems, and adapt to new challenges. Drew’s new college is designed to address those realities. Rather than focusing solely on course credits and exams, students develop personalized learning pathways built around inquiry, mentorship, and real-world problem solving. They work on projects connected to community partners, explore interdisciplinary questions, and build portfolios that demonstrate their abilities. The goal is not simply to complete assignments. It is to develop the habits of mind that allow students to navigate an uncertain and evolving world. “We want students to prototype their lives,” Turner says. “To try things, explore their interests, and discover what they want to pursue.”
A framework for ensuring student AI proficiency - Margaret Ellis, Times Higher Education
Over the past few semesters, I have structured my teaching around a framework that helps students build that capability: demystify, use and reflect. Many students arrive with strong opinions about AI but only a partial understanding of how these systems work. Some see them as nearly magical tools that can produce answers instantly. Others dismiss them as unreliable or assume they are only useful for technical specialists. Demystifying AI begins with explaining the basic ideas behind large language models (LLMs) and related systems. We show students how these models are trained, what kinds of data they rely on and why their outputs can sometimes appear confident even when they are incorrect.
‘If we make AI the enemy then surely it must become one’ - Stuart Christie, Times Higher Education
Chatbots sit on our students’ shoulders, gathering information meticulously, whispering advice in their ears – and yet, it often comes up short. Still, GenAI’s hallucinations allow learners and educators to re-centre their thinking, recasting themselves as optimisers of fallible outputs. GenAI can also be used to challenge the untested assumptions of our own stances and approaches. Referencing my own attempts to come to grips with AI “plus/minus” for one class, I’ll show one way forward for instructors interested in short-course design using AI-assisted pedagogy. GenAI can neither judge nor evaluate. Its algorithms simply isolate and aggregate character strings iteratively, based on prior patterns. It also lacks responsiveness to surrounding context. By contrast, teachers and learners debating value propositions via GenAI are best placed to arrive at discoveries in real time in an ongoing process of collective ethical contestation.
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