Paul Busch was 16 years old when he was sexually abused by his ballet teacher at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 2005. At the time, Busch told NPR’s Ava Berger, he was living away from his parents, wanted more than anything to be a professional dancer and revered the teacher who harmed him. His story reflects the larger themes of a sweeping independent report, released last month, that details decades of sexual abuse allegations on the campus of the prestigious arts boarding school and summer camp in Michigan.

University of Michigan won't use letter grades for some freshmen next fall

The school is trying a new approach to curb the mental health crisis among college-age students. Starting in fall 2027, students entering the university's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will receive pass or no-credit marks on their transcripts for the first semester, instead of traditional letter grades. Their actual grades will still be kept internally. Shea Vance, a reporting fellow for The Chronicle of Higher Education, told NPR's Leila Fadel that the university doesn't want a tough first semester to send students into a spiral — or make them think a C or D has ruined their chances of a good GPA, graduate school or a job.

Nadia Gramby spends her days and many nights as a midwife caring for other moms and babies across Alabama where she lives and practices. The kind of care Gramby offers is important, NPR’s Kristin Wright reports, because more than 52% of counties in the U.S. do not have hospital-based labor and delivery services, according to the latest March of Dimes "Nowhere to Go" report on maternity care deserts. The 2026 report, which was released Tuesday, also found that one in three counties in the U.S. are maternity care deserts, meaning they have no birthing facilities or obstetric clinicians.

Judge dismisses Trump administration's lawsuit against Harvard

A federal judge in Boston has dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit against Harvard University. The administration claimed the university did not do enough to protect students on campus from antisemitism. The lawsuit, filed back in March, claimed that Harvard had turned "a blind eye to antisemitism and discrimination against Jews and Israelis" after the war in Gaza began.

5 questions parents may have after Trump's latest vaccine move

President Trump signed an executive order Monday related to childhood vaccines in an Oval Office ceremony, flanked by top health officials and a conservative commentator who talked about her child and her current pregnancy. Those attendees called the move "historic" and "a big deal." But what's different today when it comes to childhood vaccine policy in the U.S.? As NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin and Rob Stein report, not much. There's no new research, no new vaccines available and no immediate change to insurance coverage or school requirements.

Millions of people across Europe stepped outside Wednesday to watch a spectacular sunset with a solar eclipse. The path of totality passed through portions of Greenland, Iceland and Spain and Portugal. It was the first solar eclipse visible from Spain's mainland since 1905, according to the European Space Agency. NPR’s visual team rounded up some of the best photos from around the world.

And while the next total solar eclipse in the contiguous U.S. won’t be until 2044, we’ve been revisiting reporter Lee Gaines’ 2024 visit to an elementary school to see how one teacher incorporated this “once-in-a-lifetime” event into her lessons.