Education reporters are becoming an endangered species, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. A recent commentary lamented cutbacks to higher education staff at newspapers and makes a case for sparing the beat when facing difficult funding and coverage decisions.

The article argues that reporting on colleges is just as important as elementary and high school now that a post-secondary education is necessary to access most jobs. “Also lost from diminished local reporting about colleges and universities are the contributions that local newspapers can make to national reporting on higher education,” the article states, going on to note that much of the reporting that exposed the student lender scandal this year happened at regional newspapers.