District of Columbia College Access Program

10/07/2026

This , we’re celebrating Marymount University, Virginia’s first Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)!

Marymount University is committed to providing transformative opportunities for students who are the first in their families to attend college. That’s why we’re proud to call them a University Partner. 🎓🫶

Nearly 32% of Marymount students identify as Hispanic or Latino. Behind that number is a campus working to remove the barriers Latino students often face on the way to a degree.

As we celebrate our Hispanic and Latino scholars this month, we also want to recognize the colleges and universities that give them space to be proud of who they are and the support to become who they want to be.  

Thank you to Marymount for being an incredible partner. 

¡Avanzamos! (Moving Forward Together!) 
 
 

10/05/2026

Our FY26 Impact Report is here! 🎉

We’re celebrating a result that speaks to our scholars’ hard work and the community standing behind them: a 76% five-year graduation rate across our University Partners.

This year’s report shares their stories, along with milestones that are expanding opportunity for D.C. students:

🏫 More college options close to home: Four new Mid-Atlantic University Partners give scholars more opportunities to stay connected to the communities that helped shape them.

🔓 7x multiplier in support: Our funding model shows how each dollar in DC CAP scholarships can unlock roughly seven additional dollars in institutional aid and public grants.

💵 More funding for college: DCTAG’s maximum annual award rose from $10,000 to $15,000 for eligible public-college students, the first increase since 1999.

To everyone who has invested in our scholars and believed in their futures: thank you. We’re proud to share what we’re making possible together.

🔗 Meet our graduates and explore the full report at the link below.

A year of firsts. How DC CAP Scholars helps first-generation, low-income D.C. students finish college and excel beyond belief.

09/28/2026

  wasn’t a game in D.C. – it was a game show! 
 
GEAR UP DC students had to think fast, putting their college knowledge to the test in a game show hosted at Anacostia, Ballou Sr., Eastern, and H.D. Woodson High Schools.

Over at Friendship Collegiate Academy, students planned their futures over pizza 🍕 
 
Getting ready for college should be fun. That’s why GEAR UP DC works year-round to build the skills, confidence, and knowledge students need for the journey ahead. 
 
Thank you to our GEAR UP Coaches and our phenomenal D.C. high schools – Anacostia High School Ballou Senior High School, Eastern High School | DCPS, officialhdwoodsonwarriors, and Friendship Collegiate Academy!
 
And thank you to OSSE DC for their dedicated partnership in this important work! 
 
   

09/23/2026

🚨 FAFSA is OPEN for the 2027–2028 school year! Ready to get started on securing your financial aid?

Here’s what to do:
1️⃣ Visit https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.
2️⃣ Gather your 2025 tax info, household income information, etc.
3️⃣ Submit ASAP to maximize aid!

Planning to apply for a DC CAP scholarship? You’ll need to submit your FAFSA and have your Student Aid Index (SAI) ready for the DC CAP application, launching in January 2027. Get a head start today!

Share this post with a student or family who needs the reminder! 🎓

09/22/2026

IT’S NATIONAL GEAR UP WEEK! 🎉 
 
And nobody celebrates like our DC GEAR UP team. 
 
Since 1999, GEAR UP has opened doors for students and families across the country — and here in the District, DC CAP is proud to serve as D.C.’s GEAR UP grantee, helping scholars picture their future long before senior year. 
 
Because the sooner a student sees it, the sooner they believe it. 
 
Shoutout to our DC GEAR UP crew for painting the BIG picture.  

Tell us — when did YOU first picture yourself in college? 👇  

FirstGenGrad

08/06/2026

BIG NEWS: DC CAP is partnering with the NBA Foundation to help our scholars turn their degrees into careers 🎓

New grant funding from the Foundation will expand our Career-Connected Learning programming – career and labor-market data, coaching, and preparation built to carry scholars past graduation and into meaningful careers. It starts this fall with our incoming cohort of scholars and will scale across our whole university network.

We're grateful to the NBA Foundation for investing in D.C. scholars. 🎉

To learn more, check out our announcement: https://www.dccap.org/blog/nbafoundation-partnership

08/06/2026

Vote for our panel and help us get back to Austin for SXSW EDU 2027! 🎓✨

Our proposed panel, "Building the AI Tool That Students Deserve," is about a free tool we've been building at DC CAP, hand in hand with the counselors who use it — one that connects a student's interests to real career paths, local wages, and the college programs that help them get there. Attendees will see a live demo, hear from the data scientists who built it, and the counselor who uses it every day.

Community voting is open now through August 23 – it takes about a minute to vote: create an account, tap the heart, and help us bring this one to Austin.

https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw27/community-voting-edu/page/community-voting/session/1784902797185001M9EC

06/16/2026

🎓 Congratulations to our DC CAP scholars who graduated from Alabama A&M University this semester — we are so proud of every one of you!

Alabama A&M is one of our incredible DC CAP university partners, and so much of the success of our partnerships comes down to the people who show up for our students every day. A huge thank you to Linda McClellan, Coordinator of the Tutorial Assistance Network and our DC CAP Partnership Advisor, and to Aaron Dixon, Acting Assistant Vice President of Student Success and Executive Director of the Freshman Academy. Your dedication to these scholars makes all the difference. 🙌🏽

Congratulations to this year’s graduates: Nacala Williams (Sports Management), Amah Ogechukwu (Business Administration), Tonyae Butler (Biology), Janelle Cosbert (Biology), Gregory Cousart (Criminal Justice), Biankan Garner-de Kouadio (Environmental Science), Jaeveon Jordan (Accounting), Clarke Weathersby (Criminal Justice), and Kendall Shields (Psychology). We can’t wait to see what comes next for all of you! 🎉🎓

06/03/2026

🎓 Congratulations to Ledeya Fikre, a proud DC CAP Scholar graduating this May from The Catholic University of America with a bachelor's in Business, specializing in Marketing and Technology Management — a full year ahead of schedule.

Ledeya is a first-generation college student whose parents moved to this country without speaking the language and built a life from the ground up. She's been shaped by that example every step of the way. This semester alone, she carried 21 credits, worked part-time, and held an internship — all while preparing to cross the finish line early.

We're so proud of everything you've accomplished, Ledeya!

Ledeya is one of many DC CAP scholars we're celebrating this season. Tonight, we're celebrating our biggest graduating class ever at Turning the Tassel – a DC CAP grad celebration – hosted at Philippe Chow at The Wharf. 🎉

06/03/2026

This evening, DC CAP will host Turning the Tassel 2026 — our inaugural graduation celebration, and the first time in our history that we're honoring graduating scholars from every one of our University Partners in a single room.

Since 1999, we've worked from one conviction: a student’s personal circumstances should never determine whether or not they earn a college degree. Today, we work hard to support our scholars by pairing financial support with intensive, year-round coaching to ensure they succeed. Tonight's celebration is a testament to what becomes possible when a city invests in its students and refuses to accept anything less for them.

To the partners, champions, sponsors, and donors who made this possible — thank you. Tonight wouldn't happen without you. Your support translates to the scholarship that kept a student enrolled, the coach who picked up the phone, and the network that opens doors after graduation.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! 🎓

Read more: https://www.dccap.org/blog/inaugural-turning-the-tassel-celebration