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Marnette Federis

Marnette Federis is a former education editor with The World.

Marnette Federis is a former education editor with Global Nation, the previous immigration desk of The World. Based in San Jose, Calif, she writes, edits and produces stories about immigrant communities with a focus on higher education.Marnette was born in a rural town in the Philippines and moved to Los Angeles at 10 years old. After joining her high school and college student newspapers, she discovered a passion for journalism and never looked back.She has reported for news publications in Washington, D.C., Northern and Southern California. She also has reporting experience in China and the Philippines.Marnette holds a master's degree from the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. She loves living in California — where she can go snowboarding in the Sierra Nevadas one weekend and then ride the waves in Santa Cruz the next.

A students sits on the steps of Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Sept. 21, 2009.

Universities scramble to help international students stay in US after new visa restrictions

Education

Trump administration rules issued this week have left many international students with lingering questions about whether they would be able to complete their degrees or return to their lives in the US. Universities are scrambling to find ways to keep their students in the country.

DACA plaintiffs walk arm-in-arm down from the US Supreme Court after justices heard oral arguments in the consolidation of three cases before the court regarding the Trump administration’s bid to end the DACA program on Nov. 12, 2019.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: A timeline

Immigration
A graduating Masters student from the Columbia University stands on campus the day before his graduation ceremony, which is to be held online due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in New York City, on May 19, 2020.

Foreign students face uncertainty as Trump administration mulls suspending training program

Education
A student carries her bags in front of a sign for the University of Dayton

COVID-19 shakes up international student life — and university budgets

Global Nation Education
A close-up portrait of Jessica Esparza, 27, a DACA recipient and intensive care unit nurse at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, Washington.

DACA health workers risk their lives to fight COVID-19 while they await SCOTUS ruling

COVID-19
Graduates of The City College of New York sit in their seats at their commencement ceremony in Manhattan on May 31, 2019.

Biden, Sanders have free college plans. They might learn from other countries.

Education

The US can learn from free tuition policies implemented in other countries, particularly in Europe. Still, free tuition alone won’t close the inequality gap in higher education.

A woman stands in a classroom

Early childhood education is critical, but limited. In Oregon, immigrant teachers could be the solution.

Immigration

America faces a shortage of early childhood teachers. One program in Portland, Oregon, is trying to address it while helping immigrants overcome challenges in moving up the workforce.

Workers wash and dry chopped lettuce at a Taylor Farms processing plant in Salinas, California on September 10, 2019. In recent years, the company has started incorporating automation in its facility.

How immigrant workers are preparing for automation in agriculture

Global Nation Education

Immigrants, who comprise the majority of agriculture industry workers in the US, are turning to training and education to make sure they’re not left behind by automation.

Students walk on the Temple University Campus

Iranian students in US scramble as sanctions ratchet up tuition costs

Global Nation Education

Iranian students studying in the US are feeling the effects of escalating tensions between the two countries — from difficulties paying tuition or rent to the inability to focus on their studies

A college campus

Visa rules are restricting the future of international students in the US

Global Nation Education

Under the Trump administration, international students are facing new administrative hurdles. There are signs those changes are driving international students away from higher education in the US — students who are a boon for many US college campuses because they usually pay higher tuition rates.