Education
Series
The Failure Track
Alternative Schools and Accountability
Evaluating Charter Schools
Questions About Public Transparency and Private Profits
College Debt
How College Debt is Putting the Squeeze on Families
Stories
Reporting Recipe: How to Investigate Racial Disparities at Your School
We published a trove of education data on more than 96,000 public schools across the country. Here’s how journalists can use our database to find local stories.
Explore Racial Disparities in Hundreds of Illinois Schools and Districts
Takeaways from our “Miseducation” app and how you can use it, too.
Charlottesville’s Other Jim Crow Legacy: Separate and Unequal Education
The Virginia city has one of the widest achievement gaps in the U.S., and a ProPublica/New York Times analysis shows that white students there are about four times as likely as black students to be considered gifted.
Miseducation
Is there racial inequality at your school? Look up more than 96,000 individual public and charter schools and 17,000 school districts to see how they compare.
How the Fight Against Affirmative Action at Harvard Could Threaten Rich Whites
If preferences for black and Hispanic applicants are abolished, expect a backlash against admissions boosts for children of alumni and donors.
Documents Raise New Concerns About Lithium Study on Children
Prominent University of Illinois at Chicago psychiatrist enrolled her young sons as healthy control subjects in troubled study.
DeVos Has Scuttled More Than 1,200 Civil Rights Probes Inherited From Obama
Our data analysis shows that the Trump administration is less likely than its predecessor to find wrongdoing by school districts on issues ranging from racial and sexual harassment to meeting educational needs of disabled students.
Has Your School Been Investigated for Civil Rights Violations?
For the first time ever, ProPublica is making available the status of all of the civil rights cases that have been resolved during the past three years, as well as pending investigations. See if your school district or college is being investigated for civil rights violations and why.
Have You Experienced or Witnessed Civil Rights Violations at a School? Share Your Story.
Do you know something about a civil rights investigation at a school? Have you experienced or witnessed civil rights violations? We want to hear from you.
University of Illinois at Chicago Officials Defend Handling of Researcher’s Misconduct
Top officials say reviews found no oversight problems, though documents undercut that claim.
How We Found Sources for Our Research Misconduct Story — And How You Can Help Us Find More
Privacy rules were an obstacle to finding participants in Dr. Mani Pavuluri’s lithium studies, but we got around them.
The $3 Million Research Breakdown
How a star psychiatrist at the University of Illinois at Chicago violated protocols and put children at risk.
Billion-Dollar Blessings
How Jerry Falwell Jr. transformed Liberty University, one of the religious right's most powerful institutions, into a wildly lucrative online empire.
How Health and Education Journalists Can Turn Privacy Laws to Their Advantage
Government records officers frequently cite privacy restrictions to deny data requests. Here are some tips on how to overcome or sidestep these barriers.
Arkansas Spurns Warehousing of Floundering Students
In much of the country, alternative schools are neglected, underfunded and stigmatized. But one of the poorest states is spending big on them.
For-Profit Schools Reward Students for Referrals and Facebook Endorsements
Schools for potential dropouts market aggressively to boost enrollment — especially during weeks when heads are counted to determine funding. Some of their tactics may violate federal consumer protections.
For-Profit Schools Get State Dollars For Dropouts Who Rarely Drop In
Schools touted by Betsy DeVos aggressively recruit at-risk students, offer barebones courses, and boost revenue by inflating enrollment.
Failing Charter Schools Have a Reincarnation Plan
Converting into private schools — and using voucher programs to thrive on the public dime.
Who’s Taking College Spots From Top Asian Americans? Privileged Whites.
The Trump administration is preparing to investigate whether Asian Americans are treated unfairly as a result of admissions policies intended to boost the chances of other racial minorities.
Democratic Senators Condemn Betsy DeVos’ Record on Civil Rights
More than 30 “disappointed and alarmed” senators penned a letter chastising civil rights enforcement at the Department of Education.
Voucher Program Helps Well-Off Vermonters Pay for Prep School at Public Expense
Regardless of their income, residents of small Vermont towns can use state vouchers to send their children to boarding schools and ski academies. Some school-choice advocates want to replicate the program nationwide.
For-Profit School Chain Camelot Suffers Setback Following Abuse Allegations
After our reporting on alleged physical abuse of students at alternative schools run by Camelot Education, a Georgia school district delayed awarding a $6.4 million contract to the company.
Camelot Under Siege
Camelot Education, a for-profit manager of alternative schools, is facing challenges nationwide after our report on alleged physical abuse of students by staffers.
Bellwether Behavioral Health Is Controversial Group Home Operator AdvoServ — With a New Name
After two deaths of teenage residents in less than four years, AdvoServ has quietly taken a new name that makes it harder to follow the trail of media coverage, including ours.
These For-Profit Schools Are ‘Like a Prison’
Camelot Education takes the students that public schools have given up on. But some current and former students say its discipline goes too far.
Florida to Examine Whether Alternative Charter Schools Underreport Dropouts
State officials are following up on a ProPublica report last month that Orlando uses alternative charter schools to boost ratings and hide dropouts.
‘Alternative’ Education: Using Charter Schools to Hide Dropouts and Game the System
School officials nationwide dodge accountability ratings by steering low achievers to alternative programs.
Restraints
It took one mother seven years to learn that the for-profit school she trusted with her son had strapped him down again and again, one time after not picking up his Legos.
