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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A judge ruled Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' delay of borrower protection rules was "unlawful" and "arbitrary and capricious."
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When she was a Brownie, Sylvia Acevedo was inspired to earn her science badge. In her new memoir, the Girl Scouts CEO says this experience led directly to her career at NASA. -
Nearly 17 million students head to college this fall. About half are financially independent from their parents, and nearly 1 in 4 is a parent caring for a child. -
The Trump administration is proposing new rules that make it harder for defrauded students to get relief from the federal government, in an attempt to save taxpayers money. -
Didn't land an internship or job this summer? Maybe next school year you could try taking a class. Many courses help with your cover letter, resume and interview skills.
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Nearly one-fourth of high-achieving students from low-income families apply to college completely on their own. One approach to make the experience better? Pair students with a virtual adviser. -
Amid the cat videos and makeup tutorials on YouTube, millions of people have watched a dad interview his daughters. But La Guardia Cross insists he's an "extreme nonexpert on fatherhood." -
Several new reports offer insight on how well colleges and universities are serving their low-income students. -
Human brains are still developing throughout our teenage and early adult years. Knowing more about the way they work can teach us about how schools can work, too. -
On May 1, high school seniors must submit a commitment — and financial deposit — to their final college choice. But for low-income students, it's not necessarily the end of the road. -
As more schools band together to commit to recruiting and graduating 50,000 more low-income students, four college presidents discuss what it will take to get there. -
College waitlists are growing. For many students, they offer hope of admission. That's not always the case.
