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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Trump's comments on social media marked the latest volley in a battle between the administration and the wealthiest college in the world. -
The directives include new efforts to curtail DEI programs at colleges, and discipline guidance for public schools. -
Harvard's lawsuit questions how freezing research funds will further the administration's goal of eliminating antisemitism on campus. -
The president's comments came after the administration froze $2 billion in federal grants for Harvard after the university rejected what it saw as illegal government demands. -
University leaders are under pressure to comply with federal executive orders and policy changes or risk losing federal funding. Some college presidents say that makes their jobs more challenging. -
For about 30 years, the Ph.D. Project has supported students from underrepresented groups who are earning doctoral degrees in business. Now, it's attracted the attention of the Trump administration. -
The White House has been clear that it intends to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, and that it will be McMahon's job to oversee that effort. -
Peggy Carr, a federal official who leads one of the country's most extensive student testing programs, known as The Nation's Report Card, was placed on administrative leave. -
The department tracks student achievement, manages college financial aid and sends K-12 schools money to support students with disabilities and lower-income communities, among other things. -
The number of students in undergraduate and graduate programs rose above pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
