Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday directed the state’s higher education board to develop recommendations for three-year pathways to bachelor’s degrees. Abbott instructed the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to gather public college officials and faculty leaders, as well as employers and accreditors, into a working group to mull the issue and report back to his office by the year’s end. The governor directed the working group to make recommendations on academic standards, appropriate degrees and occupations, student demand, workforce needs and accreditation requirements for the accelerated degrees, as well as the legislative changes needed to allow them.
Professional, Continuing, and Online Education Update by UPCEA
Daily updates of news, research and trends by UPCEA
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Friday, September 4, 2026
Schools are starting to teach AI literacy. For many, that means helping kids see chatbots’ flaws - JOCELYN GECKER and RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press
AI literacy has become a buzzword of this back-to-school season as educators try to strike a balance between equipping students with the skills they need for an AI-driven future while preventing them from outsourcing their thinking to chatbots. There is no single definition of what AI literacy means, or how it should be taught. Tech giants like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic offer schools training sessions in how to use their AI tools. But for educators, there is a growing consensus that AI literacy is about more than learning how to use generative AI and write good prompts. “Good AI literacy,” said Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, “includes knowing when not to use it.”
The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical. - Bill Gates, linkedIn Pulse
We need a plan to ensure that the good outweighs the bad.
- The transition to the AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history.
- Right now, we are not preparing adequately for that transition.
- If the world takes the right steps, AI will be a force for good and leave everyone better off
Thursday, September 3, 2026
Ghost students: Why one-time identity verification is not enough - Mouhamad Mbacke, University Business
Since April 2026, every applicant completing the FAFSA has been screened for identity fraud. The Department of Education introduced the requirement after Federal Student Aid concluded that stolen and synthetic identities—also known as “ghost students”—had become a serious threat to federal aid programs. Ghost student fraud deserves every higher education security leader’s attention because it demonstrates how cyberattacks exploit identity. Universities typically verify an applicant during admission, create digital accounts, and then continue trusting that identity throughout the student’s academic career. Every downstream system, including financial aid, course registration, learning management systems, email, and collaboration platforms, inherits that initial trust decision.
Lessons from AASCU: Why regional universities are built for online growth - Risepoint
Regional public universities are navigating a period of profound change: demographic decline, growing competition from national online providers, and increasing pressure to demonstrate the value of a degree. Those challenges formed the backdrop for a conversation at this year’s American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Summer Meeting, where Dr. Shelly Blunt, Provost at the University of Southern Indiana (USI), and Susan Dukes, President of University Partnerships at Risepoint, shared lessons from USI’s online graduate growth and discussed what regional universities can learn from the institution’s experience. The central message from the session was surprisingly simple: Regional universities already have what working adults are looking for.
How New Visa Limits Are Already Affecting Colleges - Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed
International applicants dropped by over 25 percent at Illinois’s flagship university and several dozen international students withdrew from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, just weeks before the start of the semester. Those are just two of the ways colleges said, in court filings, that new limits on how long international students can stay in the U.S. are already having an effect, even before the rule officially kicks in next month. Under the rule, international students can stay for only four years before seeking an extension. Previously, they could remain in the country until their studies were completed.
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Now Is the Time to Plan and Prepare Your Students and Colleagues on Workplace AI - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
If ever there was a most important era in which we must emphasize discourse with our students, it is today. We are in the midst of major changes in our culture and society as a whole. How, then, do we prepare our learners to enter a job market where the primary tools are making huge advances two or three times within the span of a single semester? First, we, ourselves, must become AI fluent. Through professional development either at our own institution or online via short courses, we need to master the foundations. Then, we must build regular update readings into our weekly schedules. There are scores of high-quality blogs, podcasts and YouTube series designed to keep readers and viewers up to speed. For example, I publish a free and open daily reading list on “AI in Higher Education by UPCEA.” There are several steps in the process that we should consider applying across our curricula to ensure our graduates and certificate holders are best prepared for job interviews and ensuing careers in the rapidly changing workplace.
Higher education systems are quickly moving toward financial peril - Alcino Donadel, University Business
Concerns are increasing about the number of university and college systems in financial distress or drifting toward it—and many may be beyond repair without outside help, according to the latest analysis by education tech company Ellucian. Three familiar boogeymen—shrinking pools of students, rising operating costs and workforce disruptions—are worsening the financial outlook for the nation’s higher education networks. The organizations studied in this report oversee nearly 1,200 institutions serving 15 million students. The “condition of these systems is the condition of the sector,” writes Dan Greenstein, report author and former chancellor of Pennsylvania’s state higher education system. Thirty-nine out of 91 college and university systems are experiencing some form of distress, and more than a third face “acute risk” as enrollment declines and financial challenges worsen, the report found.
DHS to propose end of 60-day grace period for H-1B visa holders - Kathryn Moody, Higher Ed Dive
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will soon propose a rule to eliminate the 60-day grace period that H-1B and similar nonimmigrant visa holders receive if their employment ends before the expiration date of their visas.The rule was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 6, but it has yet to be published in the Federal Register, with no indication from White House officials when it will be approved for publication. If the current 60-day grace period is eliminated, H-1B visa holders who lose their jobs may be required to leave the country immediately “and would likely be unable to change status or change employers unless [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] authorizes the change through an exercise of favorable discretion,” per a post from law firm Ogletree
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Tenure-Track Ranks Grew Last Year, Survey Finds - Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed
The number of faculty—including those on the tenure track—is on the rise, new data from College and University Professional Association for Human Resources shows. According to a survey of more than 900 colleges and universities about their worker head counts published this week, the number of tenure-track faculty increased 7 percent between the 2024–25 and 2025–26 academic years—marking the highest single-year increase since 2016. By contrast, tenure-track ranks only grew 1 percent between the 2023–24 and 2024–25 academic years.
Colleges made deep staff cuts while adding tenure-track faculty last year - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive
Full-time staff at colleges dropped 6.6% in 2025 compared to the year before, ending several years of growth, according to data released Wednesday by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. The decline was even sharper among part-time staff, whose ranks plunged by 23.9% last year, CUPA-HR’s latest survey data showed. However, faculty numbers grew overall during the year. Tenure-track faculty headcounts saw the largest spike at 7% year over year, the biggest increase for that group since at least 2016.
Report: Benchmarking Online Ed - Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed
Last year, the online and professional education association UPCEA urged institutions to close the gap between student expectations on institutional preparedness for online learning as part of its annual report on the Benchmarking Online Enterprises Survey. This year’s report, released Monday, warns that the story beneath the 2026 data isn’t one of a “rising tide lifting every online enterprise equally, but rather a sector beginning to sort itself into those pulling ahead and those bracing for contraction.”
Monday, August 31, 2026
Bankrupt Anna Maria College to sell nursing program for $1.1M - Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive
After closing abruptly this year, the Catholic institution is trying to pay off millions of dollars in debt. Anna Maria College, in Massachusetts, plans to sell its nursing program for $1.1 million to nearby Assumption University next month, according to court documents filed Monday. Anna Maria closed this year following its spring term due to financial duress and filed for bankruptcy in late June to pay off its debts and liquidate its assets. Anna Maria requested court permission to sell the nursing program assets to Assumption via a private, noncompetitive sale on Sept. 30. The college is also looking to sell its real estate while in bankruptcy, which it hopes will cover its $17.7 million in secured debt.
With New AI Requirements and Courses, Colleges Eye AI Fluency - Emma Whitford, Inside Higher Ed
Their approaches may differ but their motivations are the same: Employers are, at breakneck speed, increasingly asking for graduates who know how to effectively use AI. It’s called AI fluency, said Ray Schroeder, a senior fellow at the online and professional education association UPCEA, and it “can be a decisive factor between getting a job and not, especially at entry level,” he said. “Corporate HR departments who do the hiring are requiring or evaluating how much experience and ability applicants have in [AI], and it’s very important to those corporations because AI is becoming very important in their day-to-day operations,” he added. As of March, more than a third—35 percent—of entry-level jobs require AI skills, up from 13 percent six months prior, according to the most recent job outlook survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Organizational AI Adoption Jumps Six Points - Andy Kemp, Gallup
Reported organizational adoption of AI grew sharply in Q2 2026. Forty-seven percent of U.S. employees now say their organization has integrated AI tools to improve productivity, efficiency or quality, up from 41% in the last quarter. One in five employees remain unsure as to whether their organization has integrated AI tools, unchanged from prior quarters. AI users most often use AI for writing, research and problem-solving. Meanwhile, coding and automation users report the largest productivity gains.
Friday, August 28, 2026
Worker Anxiety Over AI Is Growing, and Employers Aren't Preparing Employees for What's Next, New Survey Finds - JFF.org
In a marked shift from a year ago, workers are now more likely to say AI is a net-negative than a net-positive when it comes to finding jobs, building wealth, and securing their quality of life, according to a new national survey released today by national nonprofit Jobs for the Future (JFF). The survey, conducted by AudienceNet in late 2025, also found that early-career workers are more likely to feel AI’s impact on their jobs compared to those with more experience. In addition, just over one-third of workers say employers are providing the training, guidance, or opportunities they need to use AI in their jobs, a drop of almost 10 percentage points. The new research builds on a 2024 JFF survey, which found that a plurality of workers—defined as anyone employed—said AI did more good than harm across society. In the new survey, the sentiment flipped; more workers now say AI does more harm than good. Optimism about AI’s impact on workers also fell by 10 percentage points. In the 2024 survey, nearly half of respondents felt somewhat or very optimistic about the impact of AI on workers. In the new survey, only about one-third of workers (39%) say they feel optimistic.
Once globally preeminent, U.S. universities are sliding into decline - Jon Marcus, Hechinger Report
Now, as a new academic year begins, American dominance in higher education globally is incontrovertibly in decline, according to data, international rankings and independent experts. The slide has been accelerated by a year and a half of funding cuts, restrictions on international students and curbs on what can be said or taught. But it began before those political challenges, with enrollment declines, lackluster returns on ever-rising prices and public mistrust. “It takes a while for all of these problems to trickle down, but they are beginning to trickle down,” said Eric Mlyn, a faculty fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University who studies academic freedom.
Private Colleges Are Losing Their Safest Market Position. The Middle Is Where Demand Dies First - Soren Kaplan, Inc.
Higher education’s squeeze shows why leaders with neither premium power nor low costs can be first to crack when demand turns against them badly. Private colleges now discount their sticker price by a record 57 percent for first-year students, and net tuition revenue is falling. On July 1, new federal caps on student loans took effect, squeezing the business model that funds much of higher education. Dozens of schools are cutting academic programs and staff to close budget gaps. These pressures look like a story about weak colleges failing. The deeper pattern is an industry splitting into two, with the strong ends pulling away from a collapsing middle. That raises a question every leader should ask about their own market: when demand shrinks, which competitors die first?
Thursday, August 27, 2026
New self-paced AI training courses launch - Purdue University
Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) has launched a new set of Artificial Intelligence Training Courses to help Purdue instructors and staff use AI confidently and responsibly in their day-to-day work. The four self-paced courses cover AI policy and ethics, approved tools, and practical ways to apply AI to teaching, research, and administrative tasks. TLT built the courses in collaboration with Purdue’s Center for Instructional Excellence, Purdue Libraries, and Purdue Information and Technology’s AI and Automation team, keeping the content grounded in the tools and policies in use across campus. And because the professional development courses are built to be updated as guidance and tools change, they will stay current as AI keeps evolving.
Why college students are paying way less for course materials now - Alcino Donadel, University Business
College students are spending markedly less on textbooks and other course materials than they were two decades ago thanks to the continued expansion of digital learning. Students spent $388 on course materials for the entire 2025-26 academic year. That’s 26% less than five years ago and about 50% less than in 2007-08, when students paid $701 on average for course materials, the latest Student Watch report from the National Association of College Stores found. Spending on course materials has remained relatively stable over the past three years. The decline in student spending has mirrored growing preference for digital textbooks accessed on laptops, desktops and other devices, said Lacey Wallace, research analyst for the National Association of College Stores.
College costs for families up 10% from last year, poll finds - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive
College costs for families averaged $34,019 during the 2025-26 academic year, up 10% from the previous year, according to an annual report from financial services company Sallie Mae. Families paid out of pocket for 49% of those costs — which include tuition, fees, housing and other expenses — drawing from student and parent income and savings, according to a poll for Sallie Mae conducted by Ipsos. They covered another 27% through scholarships and grants and 22% through borrowing. A much smaller amount, 2%, came from gifts from friends and family. How families pay for college could change in the coming years with the implementation of new federal student lending caps. Even so, two-thirds of surveyed families said they support federal lending limits, and 53% said colleges should respond by lowering tuition rates.
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