About Ana Alaya

ALAYA, ANA MARIA has been a reporter at The Star-Ledger since 1997, where she has covered municipal government, New Jersey’s largest school district, and the state’s largest county, as well as courts, politics, environment and enterprise. She is currently covering more than 50 colleges and universities on the Higher Education beat. She previously worked as a reporter for the Centre Daily Times in State College, PA, as a reporter for Capital News-Service, the student-staffed wire service run by the University of Maryland, and as a reporter for the Suburban Trends in Butler, N.J. She grew up in northern New Jersey and graduated from Ramapo College with a Bachelors degree in communications. She also earned a Masters degree in public affairs journalism at the University of Maryland on a Knight-Ridder Fellowship. She and her boyfriend, Paulo, live in West New York, NJ and enjoy hiking, birding, and hanging out in the Big Apple.