Marcella
Bombardieri

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Marcella Bombardieri

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Marcella Bombardieri is a senior fellow at American Progress. Her background is in education journalism and investigative reporting. She was most recently the education editor at Politico. During her long career at The Boston Globe, she spent five years covering higher education and five years as an investigative reporter on the Spotlight team, where she worked on projects ranging from health care finance to corruption in state government. For a series on judges’ leniency toward drunk drivers, she shared a George Polk Award for legal reporting. Bombardieri also covered the 2008 presidential campaign, was a metro reporter, and did reporting stints in Iraq and Afghanistan. She is a Boston native and a graduate of Brown University.

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House Republican Budget Threatens Public Education and Opportunity for Young People Article
Empty elementary school classroom

House Republican Budget Threatens Public Education and Opportunity for Young People

House Republican leadership’s proposed funding bill would vastly cut support for economically disadvantaged students and eliminate important programs in the K-12 education, youth workforce development, and higher education spheres.

At Navajo Technical University, a World-Class Laboratory Is Building Native American Manufacturing Capacity Article
2022 Navajo Tech graduate Marcie Vandever works at a computer.

At Navajo Technical University, a World-Class Laboratory Is Building Native American Manufacturing Capacity

In the third and final installment in a series on Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), the Center for American Progress and American Indian College Fund examine how a Tribal university in New Mexico is creating engineering and advanced manufacturing career opportunities on the rural Navajo Nation.

Marcella Bombardieri, Dina M. Horwedel

A Minnesota Tribal College Teaches Law Enforcement in Effort To Put More Native Americans ‘Behind the Badge’ Article
Jamie Allen of the White Earth Police Department conducts a demonstration for LLTC students.

A Minnesota Tribal College Teaches Law Enforcement in Effort To Put More Native Americans ‘Behind the Badge’

In the second installment in a three-part series on Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), the Center for American Progress and American Indian College Fund look at Leech Lake Tribal College’s law enforcement degree program and the college’s work on cultural revitalization and basic needs insecurity.

Marcella Bombardieri, Dina M. Horwedel

For Native Americans, Tribal Colleges Tackle the ‘Present-Day Work of Our Ancestors’ Article
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona  delivers the commencement address at Salish Kootenai College.

For Native Americans, Tribal Colleges Tackle the ‘Present-Day Work of Our Ancestors’

In the first installment in a series on Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), the Center for American Progress and American Indian College Fund explore the essential role TCUs play in their communities and why investing in them should be a priority for policymakers.

Marcella Bombardieri, Dina M. Horwedel

How To Ease the Nursing Shortage in America Report
Nurse wearing a face shield and mask

How To Ease the Nursing Shortage in America

The COVID-19 pandemic worsened a national shortage of registered nurses, making it increasingly urgent that policymakers invest in higher education, coordinate strategies to alleviate the pressures on the nursing workforce, and make the entire health care system more equitable and stable.

Marina Zhavoronkova, Bradley D. Custer, Anona Neal, 2 More Justin Schweitzer, Marcella Bombardieri

Fact Sheet: Easing the American Nursing Shortage Fact Sheet
A registered nurse and a respiratory therapist

Fact Sheet: Easing the American Nursing Shortage

Major investments of federal funding and sustained coordination are needed to mitigate the impact of nursing shortages and improve the nation’s ability to improve the health care system.

Marina Zhavoronkova, Bradley D. Custer, Anona Neal, 2 More Justin Schweitzer, Marcella Bombardieri

‘If You Had a Need, You Got Help’: A Community College President’s Approach Towards Coronavirus In the News

‘If You Had a Need, You Got Help’: A Community College President’s Approach Towards Coronavirus

Author Marcella Bombardieri interviews Russell Lowery-Hart, the president of a community college in Amarillo, Texas, about what challenges students in poverty are facing during the coronavirus pandemic and how colleges are trying to help.

Talk Poverty

Marcella Bombardieri

An Investment for Generations: A Q&A on Advancing Equity in Higher Education Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic Article
A student sits inside a campus building at his college in January 2019. (Getty/Lane Turner)

An Investment for Generations: A Q&A on Advancing Equity in Higher Education Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

Student affairs leaders at California State University, Dominguez Hills, highlight challenges that students and colleges are facing during the coronavirus pandemic—and explain how policymakers can help them persevere.

Viviann Anguiano, Marcella Bombardieri

Congress Needs To Ensure Educational Equity in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic Article
Volunteers and teachers in Boston deliver homework to students as schools shut down amid the COVID-19 outbreak, March 2020. (Getty/The Boston Globe/David L. Ryan)

Congress Needs To Ensure Educational Equity in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic

The federal government must take action in order to address the immediate-, medium-, and long-term fallout from the coronavirus crisis on pre-K, K-12 and higher education.

Viviann Anguiano, Marcella Bombardieri, Neil Campbell, 4 More Antoinette Flores, Steven Jessen-Howard, Laura Jimenez, Simon Workman

Massachusetts excels at higher education — for the white and well-off In the News

Massachusetts excels at higher education — for the white and well-off

Although Massachusetts is the most educated state in the country, author Marcella Bombardieri explains why the state's higher education system works primarily for white, well-off students while leaving Black, Latino, and low-income undergraduates behind.

The Boston Globe

Marcella Bombardieri

Restoring the Promise of Higher Education Article
A student works in a university library in Florida, February 2016. (Getty/Jeffrey Greenberg)

Restoring the Promise of Higher Education

The House’s Higher Education Act reauthorization bill would create a more equitable, affordable, and accountable higher education system.

Colleen Campbell, Antoinette Flores, Marcella Bombardieri, 3 More Victoria Yuen, Marissa Alayna Navarro, Dante Barboy

Part-Time Students Deserve More Attention In the News

Part-Time Students Deserve More Attention

Author Marcella Bombardieri discusses why policymakers should pay attention to the growing population of part-time students and consider new initiatives to ensure those students' success.

Real Clear Education

Marcella Bombardieri

The Part-Time Student Challenge Video

The Part-Time Student Challenge

This video examines why it’s time for policymakers to address the needs of part-time students so that college can work for all.

Marcella Bombardieri, Mark Hatton, Andrew Satter

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Interactive: Mapping access to abortion by congressional district

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