New on WCET Frontiers
Policy
What Digital Learning Professionals Should Know About STATS and Earnings Accountability
Published by: WCET | 7/16/2026
By Cheryl M. Dowd When the federal accountability regulations were released, many higher education professionals might have assumed that the changes primarily affected the financial aid office. However, the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) new Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability regulations require significant institutional collaboration not only from financial aid and […]
Practice
Supporting the Whole Online Learner: Innovative Approaches to Student Behavioral Health and Well-Being
Published by: WCET | 6/29/2026
By Karly Dickinson, Psy.D. When we talk about supporting online learners, we’re quick to focus on course design, technology, and academic support services—and rightfully so! Those are all critical aspects of a successful digital learning experience. But those students are more than just learners logging into an LMS. They are employees, caregivers, military service members, […]
Practice
Students Aren’t Just Learning With AI—They’re Leaning on It
Published by: WCET | 6/18/2026
By Ashleigh Golden, PsyD, MSCP, Chief Clinical Officer, Wayhaven; Adjunct Clinical Faculty, Stanford Medicine Tens of millions of people across the U.S. and Canada are turning to general-purpose AI for help with anxiety, decisions, loneliness, grief, and the general overwhelm of being human. A meaningful share of those people are college and university students, many […]
Practice
Building Internal Capacity: How the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Moved Beyond Its Online Program Manager
Published by: WCET | 5/14/2026
Authored by Rae Mancilla, EdD, Executive Director of University Digital Education; Natalie Baney, MBA, Executive Director of Digital Enrollment; Anthony Delitto, PhD, Associate Provost of Digital Education; and University of Pittsburgh Center for Excellence in Digital Education (Pitt EDGE). Institutional Tradeoffs of Outsourcing the Online Enterprise Institutions of higher education have faced mounting fiscal pressures […]
Practice
1.85 Million Credentials and Counting: The Digital Marketplace is Here
Published by: WCET | 4/9/2026
Over 1.85 million credentials are offered in the U.S. That number, from Credential Engine’s Counting Credentials 2025 report, is striking on its own. But the more important story is what those credentials tell us about how the credential marketplace is changing, and why getting the data infrastructure right has never mattered more. Credential Engine’s research in the Counting Credentials report, […]
Practice
Known and Knowing: The Case for Community in Online Learning
Published by: WCET | 4/2/2026
I came out of a graduate program that focused on research over teaching. I received one day of pedagogical training, which (because, as a historian, I was tapped to teach freshman composition) was half a day more than my peers. During my first few years of teaching, I floundered and struggled to find ways to […]
Practice
A Human-Centered Approach to Generative AI in Accessibility Review
Published by: WCET | 3/12/2026
What We Built at UCF When reviewing a tool for accessibility, we ask whether it will work for students in real course use. In practice, that question usually runs through a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®). VPATs are widely available and a standard part of many review processes, but they are often highly technical and […]
Practice
Five Common Myths About AI in Higher Education and What Our Research Actually Found
Published by: WCET | 1/29/2026
Cutting through the noise to help institutions make smarter AI decisions As AI continues to reshape conversations across higher education, leaders are navigating an increasingly crowded landscape of competing claims, vendor promises, and institutional anxieties. In the midst of this information overload, misconceptions can cloud decision-making and slow meaningful progress. Through our national study of […]
And The Magic Eight Ball Says…
Published by: WCET | 1/9/2026
This month marks my one-year anniversary as WCET’s executive director. I frequently get asked how my first year has gone. My reply is always that it’s been an interesting time to step into leadership at an organization that lives at the intersection of higher education policy and technology. Between my one-year anniversary and the predictable […]
Policy
AHEAD Week One Recap: Workforce Pell, State Roles, and Implications for Digital Learning
Published by: WCET | 12/18/2025
Last week marked the close of the first week of the second negotiated rulemaking to implement the higher education provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Public Law 119-21 (OB3). Convened by the Department of Education (the Department), the AHEAD negotiated rulemaking committee began its work by tackling one of the most closely watched […]