Elissa Nadworny
Elissa Nadworny reports on all things college for NPR, following big stories like unprecedented enrollment declines, college affordability, the student debt crisis and workforce training. During the 2020-2021 academic year, she traveled to dozens of campuses to document what it was like to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. Her work has won several awards including a 2020 Gracie Award for a story about student parents in college, a 2018 James Beard Award for a story about the Chinese-American population in the Mississippi Delta and a 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in innovation.
Nadworny uses multiplatform storytelling – incorporating radio, print, comics, photojournalism, and video — to put students at the center of her coverage. Some favorite story adventures include crawling in the sewers below campus to test wastewater for the coronavirus, yearly deep-dives into the most popular high school plays and musicals and an epic search for the history behind her classroom skeleton.
Before joining NPR in 2014, Nadworny worked at Bloomberg News, reporting from the White House. A recipient of the McCormick National Security Journalism Scholarship, she spent four months reporting on U.S. international food aid for USA Today, traveling to Jordan to talk with Syrian refugees about food programs there.
Originally from Erie, Pa., Nadworny has a bachelor's degree in documentary film from Skidmore College and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
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NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks to Michele Steele of the Big Ten Network about the start of the WNBA season, the NBA Draft lottery and the expansion of the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournament.
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We look at the redistricting battles in Tennessee and Virginia, as well as what the latest poll numbers say about President Trump's handling of the economy and the war on Iran.
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Celebrated author Mac Barnett is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and has a new, short book about writing for kids: "Make Believe." He talks with NPR's Elissa Nadworny about it.
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This year's winner in NPR's College Podcast Challenge is a letter to a grandparent that grapples with health issues including dementia. It's the story of a family learning to talk about hard things.
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NPR's Elissa Nadworny speaks to journalist Caity Weaver about what she learned on her quest to find the best free restaurant bread in America.
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NPR's Elissa Nadworny speaks to Jane Kaczmarek about reprising her role as the tough but loving mother, Lois, for the 'Malcolm in the Middle' reboot, "Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair."
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Between the war in Iran and high gas prices, President Trump needs to regain the voters' confidence ahead of the November midterm elections.
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New data from the U.S. Education Department show the extent of international gifts and contracts to colleges and universities.
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The university said it had also modified hundreds of courses and cancelled six in efforts to eliminate teaching related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
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The Ivy League school is giving $1.5 million to a community college and to a nonprofit apprenticeship program.