Author

Elaine S. Povich
Elaine S. Povich covers education and consumer affairs for Stateline, which first published this report.
Nearly half the states now allow in-state tuition for immigrant students
By: Elaine S. Povich - August 16, 2023
When Cristian Dubon Solis was getting ready to graduate from a Boston high school in 2020, he started planning to apply to college. It was only then he realized that as an immigrant lacking permanent legal status, he wouldn’t qualify for in-state tuition at Massachusetts state universities, nor for state-sponsored financial aid. With no way to […]
Plagued by teacher shortages, some states turn to fast-track credentialing
By: Elaine S. Povich - July 25, 2023
Faced with alarming teacher shortages, Virginia last month agreed to partner with a for-profit online teacher credentialing company, hoping to get more teachers into classrooms faster and without the higher tuition costs of traditional colleges and universities. While some of the Virginia school board members had qualms about the process, they agreed to give it […]
Campus diversity will be a struggle without race-based admissions, history shows
By: Elaine S. Povich - July 6, 2023
States that have tried to enroll more Black and Hispanic students in state universities without using race-based admissions policies have seen the numbers of those students slip — especially at elite institutions. Nine states had affirmative action bans before last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking it down nationwide. Those states and others have tried […]
Trash troubles: The pandemic started it; inflation keeps it going
By: Elaine S. Povich - December 30, 2022
This story was first published by Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Terrill “Ya Fav Trashman” Haigler, who worked for 14 months during the height of the pandemic as a Philadelphia sanitation worker, spent much of his tenure pointing out to the media and city officials the neighborhoods where garbage was piling up […]