Professional, Continuing, and Online Education Update by UPCEA
Daily updates of news, research and trends by UPCEA
Click on the URL at the end of posting to visit the relevant article or website mentioned in the post.
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
SDSU's Massive AI Study Finds Frequent Use but Skepticism - Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times
AI Is Routine for College Students, Despite Campus Limits - Stephanie Marken, Gallup News
New research from the Lumina Foundation-Gallup 2026 State of Higher Education study finds that more than half (57%) of U.S. college students are using artificial intelligence in their coursework at least weekly, including about one in five who say they use it daily. Male students report more frequent AI use than female students, particularly in the case of daily use (27% vs. 17%). By major, students in business, technology and engineering programs are the most frequent AI users compared with those in other fields of study. Rates of AI use are similar among students pursuing associate and bachelor’s degrees.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/704090/routine-college-students-despite-campus-limits.aspx
AI in Higher Education Is Moving From Experimentation to Strategic Integration. Here's What the 2025 Data Shows - Joe Sullistio, Ellucian
Monday, April 20, 2026
New online AI in Education Graduate Certificate equips educators with powerful digital tools for today’s learning spaces - Marcia Sweet, Purdue
Trump Administration Plans Sweeping Changes to Accreditation - Katherine Knott, Inside Higher Ed
Anthropic’s New Product Aims to Handle the Hard Part of Building AI Agents - Maxwell Zeff, Wired
Sunday, April 19, 2026
Schedule of this blog changed to Monday to Friday - No weekend posts
Look for the next posting on Monday. Thanks!
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Schedule of this blog changed to Monday to Friday - No weekend posts
Look for the next posting on Monday. Thanks!
Friday, April 17, 2026
March Sees More Job, Program Cuts - Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed
Project Glasswing: Securing critical software for the AI era - Anthropic
A people-first vision for the future of work in the age of AI - Sorelle Friedler, Serena Booth, Andrew Schrank, and Susan Helper, Brookings
Thursday, April 16, 2026
OpenAI calls for robot taxes, a public wealth fund, and a 4-day workweek to tackle AI disruption - Tom Carter, Business Insider
Colleges ramp up offerings to teach students to be AI ethicists - Kate Rix, HigherEdDive
Is college becoming less affordable? An update - Phillip Levine, Brookings
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
What Deans and Department Chairs Must Do Before Fall - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
OpenAI’s warning: Washington isn’t ready for what’s coming - Axios, YouTube
In this Axios interview, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasizes the urgent need for Washington and society to prepare for the arrival of "super intelligence." He explains that the next generation of AI models will represent a significant leap forward, moving beyond small tasks to potentially enabling career-defining scientific discoveries and allowing individuals to perform the work of entire teams. Altman highlights critical near-term risks, specifically in cybersecurity and bio-threats, and advocates for a "societal resilience" approach where the government and private s OpenAI’s warning: Washington isn’t ready for what’s coming - Axios, YouTube ector work closely together to mitigate these dangers before they become reality [05:24]. Altman also discusses the broader economic and human implications of AI, suggesting that while the technology will transform the nature of work and capital, the core of human fulfillment and connection will remain unchanged. He envisions AI becoming a "utility" similar to electricity—an omnipresent, affordable background force that powers a personal super-assistant for every user [19:19]. Despite the immense power held by AI developers, Altman argues against nationalization, suggesting that private-public partnerships are the best way to ensure the technology aligns with democratic values while maintaining the pace necessary to lead globally [08:41]. [summary assisted by Gemini 3 Fast]
American billionaire: Only two types of people will succeed in the age of artificial intelligence - Reporters
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Harvard offers six free online courses in AI and coding - MSN
Ending the era of unpaid internships - Florida Atlantic University, Inside Higher Ed
Florida Atlantic University wants to turn this system on its head by ending the era of the unpaid internships. Forty percent of Florida Atlantic’s student body is Pell-eligible and many balance low-paid work to support themselves financially during their studies. “Looking at the data, we realized that we need to go out and fund internships that would not otherwise exist,” explains Florida Atlantic president Adam Hasner. The university is located in southeast Florida, a region where job creation is growing and internships are available year-round, so he wanted to leverage its unique geographical advantage.
4 ways higher ed can lead in uncertain times - Elon University
Monday, April 13, 2026
'Double-edged sword': Montana campuses prepare for AI-driven future - Darren Frey Glendive Ranger-Review
The growing role of artificial intelligence in higher education is forcing colleges to adapt, and Montana campuses are preparing to take a major step with a new AI tool launching as early as May. When Dawson Community College President Chad Knudson attended the March Board of Regents Meeting in Dillon over spring break, a separate meeting held in conjunction with the Regents was part of Montana University System’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force one of the key topics was ChatMT.AI. Knudson stated that ChatMT will be an AI tool rolled out to the Montana University System statewide as a suite of resources focused on streamlining administrative processes. For example, the tool can handle the simple yet time-consuming task of reading a 300-page document and writing a summary, something Interim Director of Academic Affairs and Accreditation Liaison Officer BreAnn Miller said could take multiple hours to complete but only five minutes with the AI tool.