Elissa Nadworny
Elissa Nadworny is an NPR Correspondent covering higher education. She previously covered reproductive rights and abortion.
She regularly reports on international conflict, with a special focus on children and families. She has spent several months in Ukraine covering the war with Russia and in Israel, covering the war with Hamas and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
She guest hosts NPR radio shows such as All Things Considered, Weekend Edition and special election coverage.
In 2023, she tracked down a classroom of kindergarteners from eastern Ukraine, displaced by the war. The project took eight months, spanned multiple countries and continents, and told the story of children and families dealing with the trauma, loss, and fear that conflict brings.
Her work has won awards including a James Beard Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in innovation and several Gracie Awards.
She's a Livingston Award finalist for a story about college students getting their degrees from inside a state prison.
Other stories that have resonated with her include crawling in the sewers below a college campus to test wastewater for the coronavirus, sitting with the elderly living along the front lines in Ukraine's east, and the story of a pregnant woman in Gaza who gave birth amid abysmal and fast deteriorating hospital conditions.
In 2018, she went on an epic search for the history behind her own high school's classroom skeleton.
Before joining NPR in 2014, Nadworny worked at Bloomberg News, reporting from the White House.
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.
She can be reached via encrypted message at ElissaN.01 on Signal.
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A woman tries to make sense of her inappropriate college affair with the help of an unusual saint. NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks with Julia Langbein about her comic novel, "Dear Monica Lewinsky."
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New data from the U.S. Education Department show the extent of international gifts and contracts to colleges and universities. -
The university said it had also modified hundreds of courses and cancelled six in efforts to eliminate teaching related to diversity, equity and inclusion. -
The Ivy League school is giving $1.5 million to a community college and to a nonprofit apprenticeship program. -
Overall enrollment is up slightly at colleges and universities, driven by gains at community colleges and public four-year programs.
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Overall enrollment is up slightly at colleges and universities, driven by gains at community colleges and public four-year programs. -
Thousands of high school seniors are filling out their federal financial aid form or FAFSA. Numbers show a record increase in applications despite confidence in higher ed being at a low.
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It's no secret that going to college can be very expensive, with tuition costs rising faster than financial aid. But what's causing that price tag to rise so quickly? -
After a deal with the White House, researchers at Cornell will receive their federal grants. For one scientist, that means resuming work on an implantable artificial heart for babies and toddlers.
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The University of Virginia has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pause ongoing civil rights investigations. It's the third college to do so, but unlike the others, it won't pay anything.
