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Karin Fischer

Senior Writer

What I Cover

As The Chronicle’s international reporter, I cover American higher education’s engagement in the world, including foreign students and study abroad, comparative education, and, increasingly, the impact of geopolitics on colleges. My reporting has taken me to Bangladesh to write about women’s education, to China to detail experiments with the liberal arts, and to Ghana to understand the aspirations of the world’s fastest-growing youth population.

I created and write the Latitudes newsletter. You can subscribe for free to get weekly global-education news and analysis.

My reporting also examines the economic, cultural, and political divides that shape the relationship between the public and American higher education. While I’m a policy nerd, much of my work focuses on the often-complicated feelings people have about college. I’m a die-hard Washington Nationals fan, and one of my favorite stories is about how amateur research on the Negro Leagues rewrote the history of America’s pastime.

My Background

I covered politics at the state and national level before joining The Chronicle in 2004. I’ve received the East-West Center’s Jefferson Fellowship for reporting in Asia and the International Reporting Project fellowship. My work has appeared on NPR and in The New York Times and Washington Monthly. I frequently speak at conferences and in the press.

I studied government and political philosophy at Smith College. An expat Newfoundlander, I now live in San Francisco.

Connect

I welcome story ideas and feedback at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky.

Recent Stories

Latitudes
By Karin Fischer July 9, 2025
A reporting error made it appear that numbers were falling last year. They actually increased.
Broken Promise
By Karin Fischer July 7, 2025
Someday, in the not-so-distant future, Americans may find themselves on the sidelines of science.
Latitudes
By Karin Fischer June 25, 2025
Also, the latest on Harvard v. Trump, a warning for American travelers, and more student-visa news.
Race against the clock
By Karin Fischer June 23, 2025
The government’s requirement that international students make their accounts public has caused confusion and concern.
Latitudes
By Karin Fischer June 18, 2025
Plus, the Fulbright Program’s board resigns in protest of political interference.
Latitudes
By Karin Fischer June 11, 2025
Entry restrictions will hit students from Iran the hardest. And another round in Trump vs. Harvard.
International
By Karin Fischer June 5, 2025
President Trump’s latest orders bar visitors from a dozen countries and try, again, to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students.
Fighting the clock
By Karin Fischer June 4, 2025
As a weapon against colleges, Trump’s halt on interviews couldn’t be timed any better.
Latitudes
By Karin Fischer June 4, 2025
The 11th-hour vetoes of grantees overrule foreign governments that jointly select and fund recipients of the prestigious scholarship.
International
By Karin Fischer May 28, 2025
At a conference of international educators, there were mounting worries that an “America First” president could diminish U.S. higher education’s global preeminence.