Kirk Carapezza

Reporter

WGBH News

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.


College leaders and international students brace for Trump administration

International college students — and their schools in the US — are bracing for President-elect Donald Trump’s second term. College administrators insist foreign students are welcome on campus. But that message doesn’t always match the student experience.

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

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

Professors fear creeping authoritarianism in academia amid Harvard fallout

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

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.

The price of higher ed
headshot of woman

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

On Course

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

destroyed room with books

US educators step up to help displaced Ukrainians continue their studies

On 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

On 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

On Course

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

A young woman on a laptop screen

Colleges brace for steep drop in international enrollment this fall

Education

Nearly 90% of colleges expect international enrollment to decrease next semester due to the pandemic.