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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Many residents of the Ukrainian capital couldn't leave — even during the worst days of Russia's bombardment. Meet some of the 80-somethings who stayed behind. -
Young military medics in Ukraine talk about their experience and life under the Russian siege.
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A month into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces appear not to be trying to take the capital Kyiv anymore. But there are increased attacks against the western city of Lviv and other cities.
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People are sitting out college in droves. During the pandemic, undergraduate enrollment has dropped nearly 7%. The long-term effects of this decline could have a dramatic impact on the economy.
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President Biden extended relief for federal student loan borrowers for an additional 90 days because borrowers are "still coping with the impacts of the pandemic." Payments now resume May 1.
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Wesleyan University is among a small group of colleges requiring COVID-19 boosters for spring semester. Will other institutions follow?
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Undergraduates at the school finish their degree with an average of $27,000 in student loan debt. A new program could make that number zero.
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President Biden's infrastructure package includes $65 billion for improving broadband. That money could make a big difference for rural college students, who are especially disconnected.
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The pandemic has seen far fewer students go to college — that trend continued this fall, according to preliminary data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
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The Biden administration's program to make community college tuition-free will not become a reality in this round of the president's spending priorities, leaving progressive groups disappointed.
