As higher education editor at The Hechinger Report, Jon Marcus has become the foremost journalist analyzing the intersection of academia, policy, and equity. His work combines:
Marcus prioritizes stories examining:
"Universities follow student interest in social media with courses... seeking to serve growing industry"
Jon Marcus has established himself as a leading voice in education journalism through decades of rigorous reporting. Beginning his career at The Boston Globe and contributing to national outlets like The Washington Post and NPR, Marcus shifted focus to higher education in the mid-2010s. His work at The Hechinger Report since 2016 has redefined coverage of postsecondary education through:
"Rural Americans already have far less access to higher education than their counterparts in cities and suburbs. Now the comparatively few universities that serve rural students are eliminating large numbers of programs and majors, blaming plummeting enrollment and financial crises." [4]
This 2023 investigation exposed the crisis facing rural institutions through intimate portraits of students like Shamya Jones, whose digital media arts major was eliminated at Delta State University. Marcus combined:
The piece sparked congressional hearings on rural education funding and was cited in 23 state-level policy proposals. Its lasting impact lies in humanizing statistical trends through individual narratives.
Marcus' 2025 podcast episode demystified college admissions through:
Revealing that median acceptance rates increased 8 percentage points since 2012, the investigation challenged perceptions of hyper-competitiveness while exposing financial pressures driving enrollment decisions.
This 2025 analysis debunked the myth of online education affordability through:
Marcus exposed how universities use online programs to subsidize campus operations, leading to revised federal guidelines on tuition transparency.
Marcus prioritizes stories examining structural issues over individual campus profiles. Successful pitches should address:
Example: His rural universities piece [4] combined localized impacts with national policy implications rather than focusing on single institutions.
With 78% of Marcus' articles featuring original data analysis, ideal pitches include:
The online education pricing investigation [6] succeeded by pairing student narratives with visualized tuition trend data.
Marcus actively develops podcast and interactive content. Pitches should consider:
The College Uncovered series [9] exemplifies this multimedia approach through its combination of expert interviews and ambient campus sounds.
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Education, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
