As part of Open Campus’ growing effort to cover higher education at a time of remarkable change for the industry, longtime higher-ed reporter and editor Goldie Blumenstyk is joining the organization as editor at large. In this role, she will bring her sharp-eyed analysis of higher ed innovation to support Open Campus’ community college accountability initiative as a member of its advisory council.
During her 36-year career at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Blumenstyk won multiple awards from the Education Writers Association; reported from China, Europe, Israel and Peru; and also contributed to The New York Times and USA Today.
While at the Chronicle, Goldie covered politics, business, technology and the commercialization of academic research. In the six years before she retired in fall 2024, she wrote “The Edge,” a newsletter on the ideas, people and trends changing the higher-education landscape.
A frequent speaker at conferences and guest on public-radio shows and C-SPAN, she is the author of the Washington Post best-selling book American Higher Education in Crisis? What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2015).
She is now a Chronicle contributing writer. Before joining The Chronicle, Goldie was the city hall reporter at The Orlando Sentinel, where she worked for eight years. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in 1979 and master’s in 1980 at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
“I began my career as a local-news reporter and believe fervently in the power of community-based journalism to inform the public and keep officials accountable to the people they serve,” said Blumenstyk. “So I’m thrilled to be working with Open Campus as it helps reporters around the country track the role higher education plays in their communities – and where it falls short.”
Blumenstyk continued, “And I’m especially excited to be lending a hand to an Open Campus project focused on community colleges, where many of the students are adults, low-income, or the first in their families to attend college – students our nation can’t afford to leave behind.”
See an alignment with your work? Let’s talk.
Open Campus seeks partners who can engage with its reporting and investigations and deepen its impact within the communities the organization serves.
Do you have an idea about how higher education could work better in your community? Do you work in an organization that would benefit from more information about your local colleges and universities? Open Campus wants to talk with you.
Some examples of potential partners include: student groups, community leaders, civic organizations, workforce organizations, and individuals invested in their local community’s information access.
Or if you focus on college access, educational equity, community engagement, or workforce development and simply want Open Campus to know about your work, please reach out.
Open Campus is building networks that connect accountability journalism to the people positioned to use it. Please fill out this short form, and we’ll be in touch.
About Open Campus
Open Campus is a nonprofit news organization that ensures communities have the independent information they need about higher ed. By placing expert reporters in local newsrooms across the country, we help people understand and influence the institutions that shape their futures.
Founded in 2019, we now work with 18 newsroom partners. We’re supported by funders spanning journalism and higher education, including Arnold Ventures, the Lumina Foundation, and the American Journalism Project.