StudentNation

StudentNation is a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism and is made possible through generous funding from the Puffin Foundation. StudentNation focuses on first-person accounts from student activists, organizers, and journalists and has helped launch the careers of contributors to The New York TimesVoxBusiness InsiderTeen Vogue, the Guardian, and more. If you’re a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to [email protected]

People in Chicago protesting against recent ICE raids and President Trump.

“Every Single Day I Pray”: Young People Protest ICE in Chicago “Every Single Day I Pray”: Young People Protest ICE in Chicago

Thousands of protesters marched in Chicago against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in their city and President Trump’s deployment of troops in Los Angeles.

Jun 13, 2025 / StudentNation / Ava Menkes

Donald Trump signs executive orders relating to higher education institutions, alongside US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Would Be a Disaster for Student Loan Borrowers Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Would Be a Disaster for Student Loan Borrowers

The proposed budget cuts would hurt millions of Americans, as the typical borrower with a college degree will see their student loan payments spike more than $2,928 per year.

Jun 11, 2025 / StudentNation / Ángel Rentería

Pedestrians cross Union Street in the North Beach district in San Francisco.

Will the Creation of a Historic District in San Francisco Hold Back New Housing? Will the Creation of a Historic District in San Francisco Hold Back New Housing?

Activists are butting heads with a local preservation organization over a proposal to turn part of the city’s North Beach neighborhood into a nationally registered historic ...

Jun 10, 2025 / StudentNation / Ella Curlin

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2025.

The Gutting of the Department of Education Is Worse Than You Think The Gutting of the Department of Education Is Worse Than You Think

Four experts on public education in the US spoke to The Nation about how the dismantling of the Department of Education will hurt students immediately and in the years to come.

May 28, 2025 / StudentNation / Elsie Carson-Holt and Adelaide Parker

Alexa Sendukas, managing attorney at GHIRP, preparing a 7-year-old client for his asylum interview.

Trump Wants Thousands of Migrant Children to Represent Themselves in Court Trump Wants Thousands of Migrant Children to Represent Themselves in Court

The administration’s funding cuts would force unaccompanied migrant children, from infants to toddlers to teenagers, to navigate complex and punishing legal procedures entirely al...

May 23, 2025 / StudentNation / Maggie Grether

Austin drag queen and activist Maxine LaQueene does a student's makeup on Monday, April 28, as a part of Day of Drag, a student-led event that included a line-dancing workshop, political education, lip sync battles, and stations where local drag queens put students in drag.

Why Texas Universities’ Drag Bans Backfired Why Texas Universities’ Drag Bans Backfired

The University of Texas and Texas A&M systems attempted to ban university-sponsored drag performances—but not without dissent from students and local organizers.

May 16, 2025 / StudentNation / Aaron Boehmer

Pro-Palestinian protesters rally at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

Journalism Schools Are Facing Dual Pressures Under Trump Journalism Schools Are Facing Dual Pressures Under Trump

The administration’s attacks on both news outlets and universities can place journalism schools—and their students—at an alarming intersection.

May 14, 2025 / StudentNation / Mohamad Rimawi

Mourners of MOVE members killed in the bombing by the Philadelphia Police stand, fists raised, in front of their former headquarters as the funeral procession for John Africa passes.

40 Years After the MOVE Bombing, the Scars Remain 40 Years After the MOVE Bombing, the Scars Remain

Mike Africa Jr. was only 6 years old when Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on 6221 Osage Avenue. But he remembers everything.

May 13, 2025 / StudentNation / Hannah Epstein

Public Safety patrolled the interior of Butler, preventing journalists and legal observers from entering as activists who occupied the upstairs reading room were brutalized by campus security.

To Suppress the Latest Protest, Columbia Unveils a Violent New Form of Campus Policing To Suppress the Latest Protest, Columbia Unveils a Violent New Form of Campus Policing

Protestors rechristened the Lawrence A. Wien Reading Room “Basel Al-Araj Popular University” in honor of the late Palestinian writer before Public Safety and the NYPD arrived.

May 8, 2025 / StudentNation / Lara-Nour Walton

Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing executive orders relating to higher education.

Trump Is Taking a Wrecking Ball to Indigenous Education Trump Is Taking a Wrecking Ball to Indigenous Education

After mass layoffs and scholarship freezes, students and tribal leaders are suing the Trump administration for violating treaty obligations.

May 7, 2025 / StudentNation / Connor Arakaki

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