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.
-
NPR's Elissa Nadworny speaks with Chris Kraus about her new novel, The Four Spent the Day Together.
-
NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks with investigative reporter Paris Martineau about a new Consumer Reports analysis that shows protein powders can contain toxic heavy metals, especially lead.
-
NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks with investigative reporter Paris Martineau about a new Consumer Reports analysis that shows protein powders can contain toxic heavy metals, especially lead.
-
Musicals for students give Broadway flops a second life. Students in South Florida are resuscitating the 2023 Brittney Spears musical show that lasted just three months on Broadway.
-
A Cornell University researcher has been developing an artificial heart for children for more than 20 years. Now, his research is on hold and his lab is shut down. -
The White House is pressuring colleges to align with President Trump's agenda, urging multiple schools across the country to sign a "compact" in exchange for priority access to federal grants.
-
Should college campuses be open to the outside community? More and more schools are asking that question after campus shootings.
-
Delays and increased screenings for visas mean that many students didn't make it to campus on time – and that has some big implications for the economy. -
Over the last 6 months the Trump Administration has clamped down on international student visas. That's created delays for accepted students. Now, they arrive on campuses for the start of the new school year.
-
International students from around the world are arriving on American college campuses after a very rocky summer.
