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Stephanie Hughes

Senior Reporter

SHORT BIO

Stephanie Hughes is a senior reporter at Marketplace. She’s focused on education and the economy, and lives in Brooklyn.

She's reported on topics including the effectiveness of technology used by schools to prevent violence, startups that translate global climate data for homebuyers, and why theater majors are getting jobs writing for chatbots.

Previously, she worked as a producer for Bloomberg, where she covered finance, technology, and economics. Before that, she worked as the senior producer for “Maryland Morning,” broadcast on WYPR, the NPR affiliate in Baltimore. She’s also reported for other media outlets, including NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” “The Takeaway,” and Salon.

At WYPR, she helped produce the year-long, multi-platform series “The Lines Between Us,” which won a 2014 duPont-Columbia Award. She’s also interested in using crowdsourcing to create online projects, such as this interactive map of flags around Maryland, made from listener contributions.

A native of southern Delaware, Stephanie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in communications, studying at the Annenberg School. Before she found her way to radio, she worked in the children’s division of the publishing house Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Latest Stories (464)

FedEx says shipping volume is down. That's a bad sign for the global economy.

Sep 16, 2022
The company's CEO thinks it is a sign of an impending global recession. One analyst says some of the decrease in volume is "self-inflicted."
FedEx said it will be reducing the frequency of its flights and closing more than 90 FedEx Office locations.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Gun retailers get a unique merchant code that could help flag suspicious sales

Sep 12, 2022
The financial services industry has a long history of spotting indicators of illegal activity in legal transactions.
Introducing a unique merchant code for gun retailers could help the financial services industry spot suspicious activity.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

A look at some of the elements behind the U.S. News college rankings

Sep 12, 2022
While relied upon by many, experts say the rankings don't tell the whole story.
Many parents rely on the U.S. News and World Report college rankings.
Getty Images

After years of just making it through, schools have chance to tackle learning loss

Sep 8, 2022
Schools must spend at least 20% of American Rescue plan funds on academic catch up. Some say it should be way more than that.
Federal recovery money can help school trying to catch students up, but there are other factors to consider.
Getty Images

Inflation means teachers who buy their own supplies have to spend more or ask for help

Aug 25, 2022
Prices for school supplies like notebooks, glue, and labels have increased 11% from a year ago.
Lakeshore Learning, a teaching supply store, in Towson, Maryland, was doing a brisk business on a recent weekday.
Stephanie Hughes / Marketplace

Why is college so expensive to begin with?

Aug 24, 2022
In the past fifty years, tuition at both public and private schools has more than tripled, even after accounting for inflation.
Biden recently announced a student loan forgiveness plan, which will forgive up to a certain amount of loans for people who make under $125,000.
Getty Images

What does it take for chip manufacturers to get a new plant up and running?

Aug 23, 2022
Semiconductor makers seek locations with plenty of space, water, electricity and workers. First, they need megabucks for construction.
An array of machines at a semiconductor plant in Germany. Now that the CHIPS Act has passed, chipmakers are looking to build more facilities in the U.S.
Jens Schlueter/AFP via Getty Images

For 2 years, there was such a thing as a free lunch — at public schools. Not anymore.

Aug 18, 2022
The pandemic relief program that provided free meals was an outlier in the 75-year history of the federal school lunch program.
The federal government's universal free school lunch program has expired, though the idea is popular with parents.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

At some universities, tenure may become a thing of the past. That could have an economic impact.

Aug 16, 2022
Academics want it. Critics want to restrict it. The issue could affect a state's ability to recruit educators.
A Pegasus statue at the University of Central Florida, one of the schools affected by a state law constraining professors' tenure.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

Automatic college admissions can be a boon to students and schools alike

Aug 15, 2022
More schools are willing to say: If your grades (and maybe test scores) are good enough, you're in!
Some colleges are opting for a direct admissions approach to accepting students — no college applications required.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images