Kirk Carapezza

Reporter

Kirk is a reporter for the NPR member station in Boston, WGBH, where he covers higher education. Kirk has reported for Wisconsin Public Radio in Madison, Wis., and Vermont Public Radio in Montpelier, Vt. He's been a writer and producer at WBUR in Boston; a teacher and coach at Nativity Preparatory School in New Bedford, Mass.; a Fenway Park tour guide; and a tourist abroad. When he's not reporting or editing stories on campus, you can find him posting K's on the Wall at Fenway.

Can Massachusetts learn from Tennessee on how to navigate free college programs?

January 20, 2025The World's Global Classroom

Massachusetts offered free community college to any resident who hasn’t yet earned a bachelor’s degree. The decision has helped many people, but has also created new challenges.

College leaders and international students brace for Trump administration

December 12, 2024The World's Global Classroom

a student stands with her arms crossed in front of a domed building on MIT's campus

On campus, Jewish and Muslim students fear for their safety

March 22, 2024The World's Global Classroom

A gate opened from a tall brick archway on a college campus

Professors fear creeping authoritarianism in academia amid Harvard fallout

January 25, 2024The World's Global Classroom

Students walk through a gate at Harvard University, Thursday, June 29, 2023, in Cambridge, Mass.

Colleges struggle to balance free speech, international politics and public safety amid Israel-Hamas conflict

October 17, 2023The World's Global Classroom

People demonstrate in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington, June 30, 2023.

Student loans can be ‘simple’ and ‘automatic.’ Other countries offer lessons to the US.

September 1, 2023The price of higher ed

In the US, interest on student loans started accruing again on Sept. 1. Soon, more than 40 million borrowers will have to resume their payments. The US is an outlier when it comes to high tuition and the debts that students take on.

Analysts: In the face of a high-skilled labor shortage, the US needs to rely more on immigrants

October 5, 2022On Course

That’s because the number of college-educated workers is shrinking and baby boomers are retiring more quickly than previous estimates suggested.

US educators step up to help displaced Ukrainians continue their studies

August 18, 2022On Course

Several American-based online learning platforms have made their coursework free to Ukrainians whose education has been upended by the war in their country. Students, as well as universities, are embracing the new offerings.

Prem Pariyar stands in front of Alexander Meiklejohn Hall on the campus of California State University, East Bay.

‘Hidden discrimination’: California university joins national trend to protect against caste bias on campus

March 29, 2022On Course

Caste was outlawed decades ago across South Asia. But it still exists and has found its way to American campuses.

Alina Yurkiv sits with Dmitry Korkin at his home in Westborough, Massachusetts, on March 16, 2022. Korkin, a computer science professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, is using his connections so that whenever Yurkiv's husband, an economist in Ukraine

Echoing WWII rescue efforts, ethnic Russian researchers in the US support Ukrainian scholars

March 17, 2022On Course

An effort to evacuate and find Ukrainian professors safe havens on US campuses parallels the rescue of European scholars during World War II.