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.
-
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected race-conscious admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. What does this mean for colleges and perspective students?
-
As college tuition continues to rise, families are figuring out where their kids will go to college, and how to pay for it. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on April 27, 2023.)
-
Broken glass, empty desks and a love story: War brought upheaval, scattering classmates across the world. Here's how they're settling in after schooling, friendships and families were uprooted. -
The Russian invasion of Ukraine impacted one kindergarten class in Kharkiv city — spreading families across the world and forcing them to make choices to deal with trauma affecting their children.
-
Not everyone can evacuate when there is war. A year ago in Kyiv, NPR profiled three elderly residents who stayed behind — unwilling or unable to leave. A year later, we find out how they are doing.
-
For many in Ukraine, the tradition of plunging into an icy body of water on Epiphany, which marks the day of Jesus' baptism, serves as a reminder that the new year represents a fresh start.
-
Rescuers have been racing to find survivors at an apartment complex attacked by Russian forces on Saturday. At least 40 people were killed, and more than 25 others are missing and feared dead.
-
Intense fighting continues in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Russia and a Kremlin-aligned mercenary force have made small advances in nearby villages in recent days.
-
Fewer people in the U.S. are going to college, but through early college programs and dual enrollment, many colleges are seeing a growing number of young people in their classrooms.
-
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in President Biden's student loan relief program in February. The court's action means the rollout of debt cancellation will remain blocked until then.
