Awards

Explore the impact of our journalism.

2025

• Third Place, Online Beat Reporting, Jon Marcus, “Beat Reporting by Jon Marcus” — National Headliner Awards

• Winner, Beat Reporting (Education-Only Outlets), Jackie Mader, “Covering Early Education“— EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Winner, Features (Education-Only Outlets), Kavitha Cardoza, Caroline Preston and Valeria Fernandez, “A superintendent made big gains with English learns. His success may have been his downfall” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Winner, Investigative & Public Service Reporting (Education-Only Outlets), Sarah Butrymowicz, Fazil Khan, Meredith Kolodner, Gail Cornwall, Sara Hutchinson, Hadley Hitson, Madeline Mitchell, Amanda Chen, Tazbia Fatima, Tara García Mathewson and Nirvi Shah, “Suspended for…What?” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Winner, News (Education-Only Outlets), Olivia Sanchez, Nirvi Shah, Meredith Kolodner, Joanna Hou and Laura Pappano, “Affirmative Action Backlash” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Winner, News (Broadcast), Liz Willen, Meredith Kolodner, Marina Villeneuve, Nick Perez, Soledad O’Brien, Tristan Nash, Rose Arce, Bonnie Bertram, Sandra McDaniel and Amari Leigh, “Affirmative Action Backlash” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Finalist, News (Education-Only Outlet), Jackie Mader, “The dark future of American child care” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Winner, Podcast, Jon Marcus and Kirk Carapezza, “College Uncovered” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Second Place, Education Journalism, Kavitha Cardoza, “A superintendent made big gains with English learns. His success may have been his downfall” — National Association for Hispanic Journalists awards

• Honorable Mention, Excellence in Reporting, Steven Yoder, “Math ends the education careers of thousands of community college students. A few schools are trying something new” — American Society of Journalists and Authors

2024

• Second Place, Feature Story, Serious Subject, Gail Cornwall, “‘Revolutionary’ Housing: How Colleges Aim to Support Formerly Incarcerated Students” — The San Francisco Press Club Journalism Award

• Winner, Excellence in Reporting Award, Steven Yoder, “One of the Poorest Cities in America Was Succeeding in an Education Turnaround. Is That Now in Peril?” — American Society of Journalists and Authors Annual Writing Award

• Second Place, Inclusion and Representation In Features, Gail Cornwall,  ‘Revolutionary’ housing: How colleges aim to support formerly incarcerated students” — Society for Features Journalism

• Winner, Online Features, Nirvi Shah, “These would-be teachers graduated into the pandemic. Will they stick with teaching?” — SPJ DC Dateline Awards

• First Place, Writing – Medium: Education Reporting, Laura Pappano, “The (mostly) Republican moms fighting to reclaim their Idaho school district from conservatives” — SPJ Region 10 2023 Excellence In Journalism Awards

• Third Place, Feature Writing, Long Form, Laura Pappano, “The (mostly) Republican moms fighting to reclaim their Idaho school district from conservatives” — The Best of the West contest

• Third Place, Magazines Speciality News Coverage, Sarah Carr, “How a disgraced method of diagnosing learning disabilities persists in our nation’s school”  — National Headliner Awards

• Winner, Excellence in Magazine Non-daily Newspaper category,  Linda Wertheimer, “Inside the Christian legal campaign to return prayer to public schools” — RNA Excellence in Religion Reporting Contest

• Award of Excellence,  Magazine Articles (Human Interest), Linda K. Wertheimer, “Inside the Christian legal campaign to return prayer to public schools” — Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards 

• Finalist, Features (Small Newsroom), Nirvi Shah, “These would-be teachers graduated into the pandemic. Will they stick with teaching?”  — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Winner, News (Small Newsroom), Laura Pappano, “The (Mostly) Republican Moms Fighting to Reclaim Their Idaho School District From Conservatives”  — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Winner, Visual Storytelling, Liz Willen, Soledad O’Brien, Rose Arce, Naimah Jabali-Nash, Amari Leigh and Tristan Nash, “The End of Affirmative Action”  — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Finalist, Gail Cornwall, “All You Need Is One Community to Help Pick You Up: Solutions for Restoring College Dreams”  — Edwin Gould Foundation Eddie Award

2023

• Award of Merit, Newspaper Articles (Human Interest), Olivia Sanchez, “Campus religious groups step into a new realm: mental health counseling” — Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards 

• Finalist, Insight Award for Explanatory Journalism (Large Division), Meredith Kolodner, Jon Marcus and Fazil Khan, “College degree gaps: Getting worse” — Nonprofit News Awards

• Finalist, Beat Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Jon Marcus, Higher Education — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Finalist, Investigative & Public Service Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Tara García Mathewson and Fazil Khan, “Education Suspended” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Winner, Features in a Small Newsroom, Gail Cornwall, “A school created a homeless shelter in the gym and it paid off in the classroom”  — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Winner, News in a Small Newsroom, Tara García-Mathewson, “‘State-sanctioned violence:’ Inside one of the thousands of schools that still paddle students” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Finalist, News in a Small Newsroom, Jackie Mader, Olivia Sanchez, Sara Hutchinson and Kavitha Cardoza, “Education in a Post-Roe World” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Finalist, Collaborations, Neal Morton, “Tackling Teacher Shortages” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Winner, Journals, Magazines, Special Publications and Website, Gail Cornwall, “A school created a homeless shelter in the gym and it paid off in the classroom”  — John Swett Award for Media Excellence

• Winner, Newspaper or Digital Beat Reporting, Jon Marcus, “How Higher Education Lost its Shine”  — The Deadline Club

2022

• Winner, Features in a Small Newsroom, Caroline Preston, “The jobs where sexual harassment and discrimination never stopped” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Winner, Features in a Medium Newsroom, Rita Omokha, “In the shadows: The orphans Covid left behind” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Winner, News in a Small Newsroom, Jackie Mader, Kavitha Cardoza and Kate Rix, “The Trauma Epidemic” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Honorable Mention, Print/Online Best Feature Story, Charlotte West and Monica Braine, “3 Native American women head to college in the pandemic. Will they get a sophomore year?” — National Native Media Awards 

• Second Place, Education Writing, Staff, “Reading Remedies” — National Headliner Awards 

• Finalist, Beat Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Jon Marcus, Higher Education — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Finalist, Features in a Small Newsroom, Charlotte West and Monica Braine, “How Native Students Navigated the Pandemic” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Finalist, News in a Small Newsroom, Neal Morton, “A year in the life of a small-town superintendent shows the federal bailout won’t be enough” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Finalist, Public Service in a Larger Newsroom, Sarah Butrymowicz, Meredith Kolodner and Jon Marcus, “Hidden Debt Trap” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Winner, Writing: Education Reporting in a Medium Newsroom, Neal Morton, “A year in the life of a small-town superintendent shows the federal bailout won’t be enough” — Northwest Excellence in Journalism 2021 Awards

2021

• Fellow, Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellowship, Nichole Dobo — Wallace House, University of Michigan

• First Place, Feature Writing in Magazines, Casey Parks, “Traveling to the African Diaspora to prepare Black students for college” — Green Eyeshade Awards

• Finalist, Feature Writing in a Midsize Newsroom, Casey Parks, “Traveling to the African Diaspora to prepare Black students for college” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Finalist, Feature Writing in a Midsize Newsroom, Bracey Harris, “The Broken Promise of Alexander v. Holmes” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Finalist, Feature Writing in a Large Newsroom, Caroline Preston, Pete D’Amato and Rebecca Klein,  “Climate change: Are we ready?” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Winner, Beat Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Jon Marcus, Higher Education — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Finalist, News Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Sarah Butrymowicz and Tara García Mathewson, “Ed-Tech Companies Promise Results, But Their Claims Are Often Based on Shoddy Research” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Finalist, News Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Jon Marcus, Meredith Kolodner and Sarah Butrymowicz, “Higher Ed’s Coronavirus Woes: A Deeper Dive” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Winner, News Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Barbara Kantrowitz, Jackie Mader, Lillian Mongeau and Caroline Preston, “A ‘Drastic Experiment’: Coronavirus and the Future of American Schooling” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

2020

• Winner, Feature Writing in a Small Newsroom, Casey Parks, “Nearly All the Seniors at This Charter School Went to College. Only 6 Out of 52 Finished on Time” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Winner, Beat Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Matt Krupnick, Higher Education — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Finalist, Single-Topic News in a Small Newsroom, Meredith Kolodner, “First Step to the Middle Class” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Finalist, Single-Topic News in a Midsize Newsroom, Jon Marcus and Felicia Mello, “Is California Saving Higher Education?” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting  

• Finalist, Feature Stories in a Large Newsroom, Casey Parks, “From prison to dean’s list: How Danielle Metz got an education after incarceration” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Finalist, Beat Reporting in a Small Newsroom, Jon Marcus, Higher Education — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Finalist, Best Audio Storytelling in a Small Newsroom, Jill Barshay and APM Staff, “Under a Watchful Eye: How Colleges Are Tracking Students to Boost Graduation” — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting 

• Finalist, Casey Parks, “Nearly All the Seniors at This Charter School Went to College. Only 6 Out of 52 Finished on Time” — The Edwin Gould Foundation Eddie Prize

• Second Place, Feature Special Writing Portfolio, Casey Parks — Society for Features Journalism Excellence in Features Awards

• Second Place, General Feature, Sarah Butrymowicz, “Refugee girls want to improve the world. Will we let them do so?” — Society for Features Journalism Excellence in Features Awards

• Second Place, Feature Writing in Large Dailies, Casey Parks, “From prison to dean’s list: How Danielle Metz got an education after incarceration” — Green Eyeshade Awards 

• First Place, Feature Writing in Magazines, Casey Parks, “Nearly All the Seniors at This Charter School Went to College. Only 6 Out of 52 Finished on Time” — Green Eyeshade Awards

• First Place, Digital Innovation in Storytelling, Staff, “A Game of College” — National Headliner Awards 

• First Place, Broadcast Radio Networks and Syndicators Documentary or Public Affairs, Jill Barshay and Sasha Aslanian, Under a Watchful Eye — National Headliner Awards

• Third Place, Online Beat Coverage, Tara García Mathewson, The Future of Learning beat — National Headliner Awards

2019

• Winner, Television Network – General Assignment News: Short Form, Emmanuel Felton, Nearly 750 Charter Schools are Whiter than the Nearby District Schools — NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards

• Winner, Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research, Jill Barshay, Proof Points — American Educational Research Association

• Winner, January Sidney Award, Sarah Butrymowicz & Meredith Kolodner, “Tangled up in debt” — The Sidney Hillman Foundation

• Front Page Award for investigative reporting (newspapers), Meredith Kolodner and Sarah Butrymowicz, Tangled up in debt — Newswomen’s Club of New York

• Second Place, Videography / Online or Television, Emrys Eller, For students teetering on the edge financially, micro-grants help them finish college — Green Eyeshade Awards

• Second Place, Public Service in Online Journalism, Casey Parks, Immigrant students find hope in soccer, but some states won’t let them play — Green Eyeshade Awards

• Third Place, Online Beat Coverage, Jon Marcus, Higher education — National Headliner Awards

• Finalist, Public Service Award, Meredith Kolodner, State financial-aid money dries up before many low-income college students get help — Education Writers Association

• Finalist, Visual Storytelling, Lillian Mongeau, Ryan Alexander-Tanner and John Osborn D’Agostino, Finding a good preschool isn’t easy: Try it — Education Writers Association

• Finalist, Eddie Award, Jon Marcus, higher education beat coverage — Education Writers Association

• Finalist, Digital Media – Commentary/Weblog, Andre Perry, Degree of Interest — NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards

• Finalist, The Les Payne Award for Coverage on Communities of Color, Emmanuel Felton, Nearly 750 charter schools are whiter than the nearby district schools — The Deadline Club Annual Awards

2018

• Winner, Online feature reporting, Sarah Gonser, Out of poverty, into the middle class — Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Awards

• Winner, Special reporting: business, Front Page Awards, Tara García Mathewson and Sarah Butrymowicz, “Tired of fighting that fight”: school districts’ uphill battle to get good deals on ed tech — Newswomen’s Club of New York

• First Winner, Online and Daily newspapers, Education, The community college “segregation machine,” Meredith Kolodner , Brad Racino & Brandon Quester — San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards

• Finalist, Investigative reporting, Magazines and Weeklies, Emmanuel Felton, The Secession Movement in Education — Education Writers Association

• Finalist, Livingston Award for Young Journalists, Emmanuel Felton, The Secession Movement in Education — Wallace House, University of Michigan

• Fellow, Ida B. Wells Fellowship, Emmanuel Felton — The Investigative Fund

• Grantee, The Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism, Emmanuel Felton — Center for Health Journalism, USC Annenberg

• Fellow, Spencer Fellowship in Education Reporting, Emmanuel Felton, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

2017

• Finalist, Topical reporting, Large newsroom, Kyle Spencer, Bullied by the Badge — Online Journalism Awards

• Finalist, Beat reporting, General news outlet (small staff), Tara García Mathewson, Future of Learning beat — Education Writers Association

• Winner, James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, Emmanuel Felton, How the federal government abandoned the Brown v. Board of Education decision — Hunter College, CUNY

2016

• First Place, Print Feature, Meredith Kolodner, “What happens when a college recruits black students others consider too risky?” — Garden State Journalists Association’s Memorial Journalism Awards

• Finalist, Livingston Award for Young Journalists, Lillian Mongeau, Little to Nothing — Wallace House, University of Michigan

• First Prize, Single-Topic News or Feature, General News Outlet (small staff), Sarah Butrymowicz & Jackie Mader, Mississippi Child Care Crisis — Education Writers Association

• First Prize, Feature Writing, Magazines and Weeklies, Emrys Eller, LynNell Hancock, & Nicole Lewis, Segregation and Integration in the Delta — Education Writers Association

• Winner, Internet Feature Video, Education in the Delta, Emrys Eller & Cariba Party — New York Press Club Journalism Awards

• Winner, Internet Commentary, Degree of Interest, Andre Perry — New York Press Club Journalism Awards

• Finalist, Digital Innovation, Parachuted In an American Public School, John Osborn D’Agostino & Tiffany Lew — Deadline Club Awards

• Winner, Newspaper Investigative Reporting (Daily Circulation 1-50,000), Mississippi Child Care Crisis, Sarah Butrymowicz & Jackie Mader — Sigma Delta Chi Awards

• Finalist, Roy W. Howard Award for Public Service Reporting, Mississippi Child Care Crisis, Sarah Butrymowicz & Jackie Mader — Scripps Howard Awards

• Second Place, Magazine Coverage of a Major News Topic, LynNell Hancock, How School Desegregation Unraveled — National Headliner Awards

• Third Place Place, Web or Interactive Project, John C. Osborn & Tiffany Lew, Parachute Kid — National Headliner Awards

2015

• Winner, Commentary/Internet, Willen Weighs In, Liz Willen — New York Press Club
• First Place, Public Affairs Reporting/Non-Dailies, Nick Chiles, Full-court press for Mississippi third graders in summer school has disappointing results — Green Eyeshade Awards

• First Place, Serious Commentary/Online, Andre Perry, Degree of Interest — Green Eyeshade Awards

• Winner, The Iris Molotsky Award for Excellence in Higher Education, Jon Marcus and Holly Hacker, The rich-poor divide on America’s college campuses is getting wider, fast — The American Association of University Professors

• Second Place, News Story in Digital Media, Unaccompanied minors bring hope, past trauma to American schools, Lillian Mongeau — San Francisco Peninsula Press Club Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards

2014

• Winner, Online-Feature, Sarah Garland, “In Remote Alaskan Villages, Teachers Struggle to Make School Meaningful” — Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Awards

• First Prize, Single topic news/feature, General news outlet (small staff), Sara Neufeld, “A Promise to Renew” — Education Writers Association

• First Prize, Beat reporting, General news outlet (small staff), Jon Marcus, Higher education beat — Education Writers Association

• First Prize, Feature writing, Magazines & weeklies, Sarah Carr, “School Discipline in Mississippi and New Orleans” — Education Writers Association

• Finalist, Opinion Writing, Alexandria Neason, “Where Have All the Black and Brown Teachers Gone?” — Education Writers Association

• Honorable Mention, Jon Marcus & Holly K. Hacker, ” Poor Families Are Bearing the Brunt of College Price Hikes/Tuition Tracker” — The Edwin Gould Foundation Eddie Award

• Runner-up, Series, Sarah Butrymowicz & Jackie Mader, with Jerry Mitchell, Emily Le Coz, Kate Royals, and Monica Land of the (Jackson, MS) Clarion Ledger, “Hard Look at Hard Time” — 2015 John Jay College/H.F. Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Awards

• Winner, Information Graphics: Planner Coverage, Small Division, “Tuition Tracker” — Best of Digital Design from The Society For News Design

• Second Place, Broadcast Radio Feature, Jill Barshay, “Why Hoboken is Throwing Away All of its Student Laptops” — Garden State Journalists Association’s Memorial Journalism Awards

• Second Place,Series, Sara Neufeld, “A Promise to Renew” — Garden State Journalists Association’s Memorial Journalism Awards

• Third Place, Online Feature Writing, Sara Neufeld, “A taste of victory, finally, for a struggling Newark school” — NJ-SPJ Excellence in Journalism Awards

• Second Place, Radio Enterprise, Jill Barshay, “Why Hoboken is throwing away all of its student laptops” — NJ-SPJ Excellence in Journalism Awards

• First Place Place, Non-Local Online-Enterprise/Series/Investigative Reporting, Sara Neufeld, “A Promise to Renew” — NJ-SPJ Excellence in Journalism Awards

• Second Place, Investigative Reporting/Small Dailies, Sarah Butrymowicz & Jackie Mader, “Pipeline to Prison” — Green Eyeshade Awards

• Second Place, Public Service in Online Journalism, Jackie Mader, Mississippi education reporting — Green Eyeshade Awards

• Third Place, Specialized News Site, Staff, Special Report:Mississippi Learning — Green Eyeshade Awards

• Third Place, Non-deadline Reporting/Online, Kayleigh Skinner, Mississippi education beat — Green Eyeshade Awards

2013

• Winner, Online-Feature, Sarah Garland, “In Remote Alaskan Villages, Teachers Struggle to Make School Meaningful” — Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Awards

• Winner, Newspaper In-Depth Reporting, Jackie Mader, “Literacy and STEM Education in Mississippi” — Newswomen’s Club of New York Front Page Awards

• Winner, Internet Continuing Coverage, Sarah Carr, Sarah Garland, Liz Willen, “Mississippi Learning” — The New York Press Club Journalism Awards

• 1st Place, Public/Community Service, Andrew Vanacore, Mark Waller, Sarah Garland, Sarah Carr, “Grading the Graders” in The Times-Picayune — Louisiana/Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors Division IV Writing Awards

• 1st Place, Print and Electronic Publications Series, Sara Neufeld & John Mooney, The Hechinger Report & NJ Spotlight, “A Promise to Renew” — Garden State Journalists Association Memorial Journalism Awards

• 1st Place, Online Feature Reporting, Sara Neufeld, Jon Mooney, Nancy Solomon, Liz Willen, “A Promise to Renew” — New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Journalism Awards

• 1st Prize, Beat Reporting, Sarah Carr — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• 2nd Place, Online – Enterprise/Series/Investigative Reporting, Sara Neufeld, John Mooney, Nancy Solomon, Amanda Brown, “A Promise to Renew” — New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Journalism Awards

• 2nd Prize, Beat Reporting, Jon Marcus — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• 3rd Place, Education Reporting, Circulation >40,000, Sarah Butrymowicz — Indiana Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists, Best in Indiana Journalism Awards

• Finalist, Newspaper or Digital Beat Reporting, Jon Marcus, Higher Education Reporting — The Deadline Club Annual Awards

• Special Citation, Sara Neufeld, “A Promise to Renew,” The Hechinger Report, NJ Spotlight and WNYC — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Special Citation, Investigative Reporting, Sarah Garland and Jill Barshay — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Honorable Mention, Series/Project, Division 2, Sara Neufeld and John Mooney — Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features awards

2012

• Winner, Nellie Bly Cub Reporter, Best journalistic effort by an individual with three years or less professional experience, Sarah Butrymowicz — The New York Press Club

• First Prize (shared), Investigative Reporting, Jennifer Oldham and April Dembosky — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Special Citation, Single-Day News Coverage or Feature, Print, Large Market, Sarah Garland, Sarah Butrymowicz, Jon Marcus, Jill Barshay – EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

2011

• First Prize (shared), Series Print, Large Market, Staff — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting

• Second Prize, Beat Reporting Print, Small Market, Staff — EWA National Awards for Education Reporting