And that's another year in the books! The fifth annual received roughly 200 entries from students in 31 states and the District of Columbia.
, and with them, an additional 35 podcasts that caught our ears, and that our team thought had a strong story to tell.
Below are the honorable mentions. Congratulations everyone!
by Brianna Sosa
Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
by Dylan Moody A'ness
University Of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.
by Tess Bierly
Duke University, Durham, N.C.
by Henry Nicholls
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.
by Cate MacDonald
University Of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.
by Christina Muttavanchery
Fordham University, New York, N.Y.
by Kathleen Leslie
University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nev.
by Cecilia Pflieger
Endicott College, Beverly, Mass.
by Kitan Arole
University of Connecticut, Mansfield, Conn.
by Zach Lebowitz, Karina Kafka, Eli Dahmah and Findlay Drabant
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
by Krystal Guerra
Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas
by Alondra Nolasco Rojas
Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
by Marissa Dumais
University Of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.
by Students of Inside-Out Pathway-to-BA Program
Pitzer College, Claremont, Calif.
by Jack Lynch
Thomas More University, Crestview Hills, Ky.
by Ava Johnson
Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
by Ainsley Elliot
Kent State University, Portage County, Ohio
by Bunmi Omisore
Duke University, Durham, N.C.
by Leonella Abreu Garcia, Yanelyse Cruz, Hayley Garabitos, Katie Goris and Emily McDougall
SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, N.Y.
by Angel Polito
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y.
by Kendrah Su
Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
by Barbara Flores, Suni Salas and Maria Garcia
University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
by Samuel Mansi
Dalton State College, Dalton, Ga.
by Desmond Meagley, Eliot Faine, Ivan Saravia and Erik Bracken
Laney College, Oakland, Calif.
by John Bartee
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Ill.
by Sara Morales
Fordham University, New York, N.Y.
by Riley White
Dalton State College, Dalton, Ga.
by Hannah Loftis
Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Ill.
by Michaela Habal, Martha Gonzalez Mejia, Alejandra Guio Perez and Aylen Ojeda Lopez
University of California San Diego, San Diego, Calif.
by Jessica Watts
Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.
by Victoria Cuellar
Miami Dade College, Miami, Fla.
by Yanser Rodriguez Perez, Jennifer Santos, Soraya Guillet, Kawanza Nelum and Olivia Correa
Miami Dade College, Miami, Fla.
by Halee Provost, Daniela Ortiz, Daniel Leon and Valerie Williams
Miami Dade College, Miami, Fla.
by Koki Ogawa
Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
by Sophia Marciano
Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
Congratulations everyone! Thanks again for sharing your stories with us. We loved listening to every minute of them, and we hope to hear from you again this fall.
NPR's College Podcast Challenge will return Fall of 2026. for the latest updates. You can reach us at studentpodcastchallenge@npr.org.
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