Adam Echelman

Adam Echelman covers higher education for CalMatters, focusing on California’s 116 community colleges and how they influence the state’s future. He works in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on strengthening higher education coverage in local communities.

In his reporting, students drive every story. He’s traveled across the state, from Mojave to the upper north, examining why colleges rely on incarcerated students and later, why rural LGBTQ students don’t feel safe on campuses. In another article, he reported how older adults are deprived of thousands of dollars of financial aid. He’s also looked at issues facing the community college system, such as the rising cost of housing and the use of AI. He was an Education Writers Association fellow, which culminated in a two-part series about a novel education technique, known as competency-based education.

Before joining CalMatters, he worked as an equity reporter at the Modesto Bee, where his coverage of environmental injustice received a California News Publishers Association award.

Adam has extensive experience as an education leader. For three years, he served as the executive director of Libraries Without Borders, a nonprofit organization that helps expand access to information. Under his tenure, he built partnerships with federal and state education departments, as well as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and private groups including the Knight, Ford and Open Society foundations. 

He’s a graduate of Yale University and is fluent in Spanish and French.