Amy Morona - Higher Education Reporter in Cleveland

Hi! I'm currently the statewide higher education reporter for the nonprofit newsroom Signal Cleveland and Signal Ohio. My role is in partnership with Open Campus, a national nonprofit news organization focused on strengthening higher education reporting in local markets. 

I've covered higher education in the Buckeye State for five consecutive years. During that time, I've broken news on Cleveland's biggest colleges, filed a gazillion (yes, that's the official number 😉) public records requests, and created service journalism guides aimed at helping people figure out how to navigate higher education. 

My accountability work's changed how colleges operate. Audiences readily consume it, too. My pieces accounted for about 15% of Signal's traffic in 2024.  

Before returning to my adopted hometown (go Cavs!), I spent several years in Washington, D.C., including stints as a reporter/producer for the cable channel Newsy (now known as Scripps News) and as a producer for the roundtable political TV show Washington Week.

I’m a curious person by nature. Just ask my husband, who frequently pulls me away from conversations I start with strangers at the grocery store or at coffee shops. I also enjoy training for half marathons, reading, and spending time with the people in my life who make me laugh the most.

Want to chat about the latest Real Housewives news, hear me gush about our four-year-old rescue beagle Marley, or share a story idea? Hit me up: amymorona@gmail.com 

Clips

Take a look at some of my clips from Signal Cleveland / Open Campus and Crain's Cleveland Business / Open Campus.

How President Laura Bloomberg is steering Cleveland State

Cleveland State University’s wild year started, chronologically and otherwise, in January. 

That’s when news broke publicly that university officials were considering “potentially absorbing” the financially struggling private Notre Dame College just nine miles away. 

Then, only two weeks later, president Laura Bloomberg made headlines of her own. She announced she was one of three finalists in the running to lead the University of Minnesota, a five-campus system enrolling more than 70,000 stud...

Cleveland State talks 'absorbing' struggling Notre Dame College

Cleveland State University and Notre Dame College have met to discuss the university potentially absorbing the struggling private college.

Meetings between officials from the two schools took place three times last fall, Cleveland State officials told Signal Cleveland.

The first conversation happened Sept. 7 at Cleveland State. On Oct. 2, Cleveland State officials met at Notre Dame’s South Euclid campus. The parties then met via Zoom Dec. 11.

Those meetings, Cleveland State officials said, “w

Why adult students are a focal point for Cleveland's colleges

Koenig, a recruitment specialist at Cuyahoga Community College’s Parma campus, always seems to be wearing something emblazoned with the college’s logo or mascot. It’s what makes people stop her at Marc’s grocery store to tell her about their educational path and how she ends up talking about job opportunities while in line to make a return at Kohl’s.

This week, decked out in a polo with the college’s logo and a hat emblazoned with its triceratops mascot, she brought her best Tri-C pitch to the

Case Western's Black students find community at local barbershop

The routine begins every other week during the school year: Sabian Burke sits down in a barber chair. A cape with a lion’s face on it gets draped around his shoulders. White crew socks tucked neatly into clean beige Nike shoes peek out from under that cloth. He breathes. Then the cut begins.

He’s at Premier Barber Lounge in Glenville. That’s where Shanetta McNair, also known as the Lioness Barber, works her magic Tuesday through Saturday. The shop is less than a mile from Case Western Reserve U

Ashland University's prison program at the center of national controversy

As Ashland University’s traditional enrollment has decreased, the number of students in its prison education program has been on a steady rise.

Kristen Haley Theriot made her first and only visit to the campus of Ashland University in December 2018. She left with a purple blanket, a portfolio with the school’s logo and an associate’s degree.

The 33-year-old’s classes were completed far from the small campus, though. Theriot took them from a Louisiana prison, where she was serving time for arme