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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Noah Kahan went from writing a pandemic album on his parents' farm in rural Vermont to selling out an arena tour and being nominated for best new artist at the Grammys. -
Mimi Parker, known for her chilling vocals and sparse drumming in the critically acclaimed rock band Low, died Saturday at age 55. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2020.
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College students are heading back to campus this month — and with the delta variant spreading, many aren't sure what to expect from this school year. -
Undergraduate college enrollment fell again this spring, down nearly 5% from a year ago. "It's really the end of a truly frightening year for higher education," one researcher says. -
Colorado has become the first state to do away with legacy admissions in public colleges. The governor also ended a requirement that public colleges consider SAT or ACT scores for freshmen. -
A student who has been incarcerated for more than 10 years delivers a graduation speech about forgiveness, perseverance and making the most of a future he sees as rich with potential. -
The senators are introducing a bill that would make pandemic-related food benefits for college students permanent and create grants for colleges to address hunger. -
Most of the class of 2020 experienced canceled or online-only graduation ceremonies, but this year many colleges are finding creative ways to celebrate their graduates in person. -
More campuses are expected to add the requirement, with potential legal challenges ahead. One key point: Requiring vaccines for infectious diseases is nothing new for many residential colleges. -
Colleges are leaning heavily on campus custodians. "You may not have seen us before the pandemic, but I guarantee you'll see us now," says Tanya Hughes, a campus building services head in Florida.
