Cory Turner Cory Turner edits and reports for the NPR Ed team.
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Cory Turner

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Cory Turner - 2014
Stephen Voss/NPR

Cory Turner

Correspondent/Senior Editor, NPR Ed

Cory Turner reports and edits for the NPR Ed team. He's helped lead several of the team's signature reporting projects, including "The Truth About America's Graduation Rate" (2015), the groundbreaking "School Money" series (2016), "Raising Kings: A Year Of Love And Struggle At Ron Brown College Prep" (2017), and the NPR Life Kit parenting podcast with Sesame Workshop (2019). His year-long investigation with NPR's Chris Arnold, "The Trouble With TEACH Grants" (2018), led the U.S. Department of Education to change the rules of a troubled federal grant program that had unfairly hurt thousands of teachers.

Before coming to NPR Ed, Cory stuck his head inside the mouth of a shark and spent five years as Senior Editor of All Things Considered. His life at NPR began in 2004 with a two-week assignment booking for The Tavis Smiley Show.

In 2000, Cory earned a master's in screenwriting from the University of Southern California and spent several years reading gas meters for the So. Cal. Gas Company. He was only bitten by one dog, a Lhasa Apso, and wrote a bank heist movie you've never seen.

Story Archive

Thursday

Trump is changing the Department of Education. How is it affecting borrowers?

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Friday

The federal student loan portfolio – which manages about $1.6 trillion in loans for roughly 43 million borrowers – is currently overseen by the Education Department's office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

Trump says Education Department will no longer oversee student loans, 'special needs'

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Wednesday

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive action to begin dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Turner/Ed Department EO

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Monday

Math teacher Diane Laney hard at work in her third-grade classroom at Ider High school, which serves grades K-12. Students use counters to help model multiplication. Charity Rachelle for NPR hide caption

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Charity Rachelle for NPR

Why Alabama was the only state where math scores improved over pre-pandemic levels

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Thursday

President Donald Trump greets Ireland's Prime Minister Micheál Martin as he arrives to speak at the annual St. Patrick's Day luncheon at the Capitol. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Wednesday

A view through the doors of the U.S. Department of Education, in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the day after the agency said it would lay off nearly half its staff. Nathan Howard/Reuters hide caption

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Nathan Howard/Reuters

How the Trump administration's Education Department cuts are playing out

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Why Alabama was the only state where math scores improved over pre-pandemic levels

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Tuesday

A man walks past the U.S. Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7. Gent Shkullaku/Zuma Press Wire via Alamy hide caption

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Gent Shkullaku/Zuma Press Wire via Alamy

U.S. Education Department says it is cutting nearly half of all staff

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Wednesday

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon leaves the House chamber after President Trump's address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption

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Jose Luis Magana/AP

Trump prepares order dismantling the Education Department

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Monday

Linda McMahon, pictured here at her Senate confirmation hearing in February, previously led the U.S. Small Business Administration and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Linda McMahon has been confirmed as Trump’s secretary of education

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Friday

The WWE-ification of the Department of Education J. Shearer/WireImage for BWR Public Relations hide caption

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J. Shearer/WireImage for BWR Public Relations

Monday

President Trump says he wants to close the U.S. Department of Education. Some Republicans appear torn about the department's fate. Jon Cherry/Getty Images hide caption

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Jon Cherry/Getty Images

Republicans’ love/hate relationship with the Education Department

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Thursday

Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her confirmation hearing on Thursday in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

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Win McNamee/Getty Images

McMahon confirmation hearing (ATC)

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Tuesday

New research gives a deep dive into how U.S. students are doing. Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images hide caption

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Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

Students still lag in math and reading nearly 5 years after pandemic closed schools

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Monday

Flags fly outside the U.S. Education Department in Washington, D.C. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

Trump administration targets Education Department research arm in latest cuts

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Friday

Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia began a recent hearing of the House education committee by addressing the "elephant in the room" — President Trump's efforts to diminish, and eventually dissolve, the U.S. Education Department. Jose Luis Magana/AP; Getty Images; Photo collage/NPR hide caption

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Jose Luis Magana/AP; Getty Images; Photo collage/NPR

U.S. education policy is at a crossroads. This congressional hearing shows why

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Tuesday

Education Department Cuts

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Monday

President Trump has said repeatedly that he will try to close the U.S. Department of Education, seen here in Washington, D.C. Robert Knopes/Education Times via Getty Images hide caption

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Robert Knopes/Education Times via Getty Images

Turner - Trump and the Ed Dept

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Wednesday

A student at Longwood Middle School in Middle Island, N.Y., takes a math test. Newsday LLC/Getty Images hide caption

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National assessment on reading and math shows students still struggling post-pandemic

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Thursday

President Joe Biden pictured with his Department of Education secretary, Miguel Cardona, in October 2022. Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption

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Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Biden's education grades: F on FAFSA, an incomplete on student loan forgiveness

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Wednesday

Federal student loan borrowers await court decision on repayment plan

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Thursday

A 1975 law helped kids with disabilities access education. Schools now need more help

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