Elissa Nadworny

NPR sent photographers across the country to document the differences between school districts.

Today, "inequality is endemic" in America's public schools, according to a new report.

Some of the people struggling the most to pay back their debt are the millions of students who took out student loans but never finished a degree.

Some borrowers default on their student loans at much higher rates than others — and they're not the borrowers with the highest debt.

Millions of people are paying back student loans for a degree they never got. If this sounds like you, we want to hear about your experiences.

They are early risers and hard workers. Some are the first in their family to go to college. Many are financially independent from their parents. Meet the "nontraditional" college students of today.

Trying to figure out how to navigate the finances of college? A series of crowdsourced Google documents written by current students and recent graduates provides many needed answers.

College students and recent grads: What tips would you give to other students footing the bill for college?

The middle school winners of the NPR Student Podcast Challenge offer their perspective on why talking about something so natural is so taboo — and why that's silly.

Reentry programs work like a bridge between the world of corrections and the world of social services. Here's what one of those programs is doing to help folks stay out for good.

Nearly 4 million college students are raising children — a fifth of all undergraduates. They have better grades than their peers without kids but are less likely to graduate. What can schools do?

A re-entry program in San Bernardino, Calif., for released offenders is like a bridge between the world of corrections and the world of social services. The program helps people on parole transition.

Nearly four million college students are raising children — a fifth of all undergraduates. They have better grades than their peers without kids but are less likely to graduate.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers across the House and the Senate introduced a bill that would allow people in prison access to federal Pell grants to pay for college.

A California high school is staging an original musical called Ranked, set in a world where class rank means everything, and some parents are willing to pay for their student to get a better spot.

For most students, figuring out where to go to college is closely linked with, "How am I gonna pay for it?" The answer — sort of — comes in lots of confusing terms and jargon.

Financial aid offer letters look vastly different from one school to the next, and it isn't always clear how much students will have to pay. "It's really the Wild West," one expert says.

Prosecutors are pushing for jail time for the 13 parents and one coach who have said they will plead guilty to using bribery and other forms of fraud as part of the college admissions scandal.

College and universities routinely send financial aid letters to prospective students that are utterly confusing. New legislation would require these letters to be uniform and easy to understand.

It's no surprise that rich people game the system to get their kids into top colleges. Here are some key takeaways as the bribery scandal evolves.