It’s Graduation Time!

It’s graduation season — and after a few months away from your inbox, we’re back with updates worth sharing.

This spring, All Out for Change® is supporting 23 students through our Supplemental Scholarship and Tuition Gap Opportunity Awards, helping them cover the financial gaps and expenses that stand between their ambition and a degree. 

Behind the scenes, we’ve also been refreshing our website (coming soon!) and deepening our partnership with DC International, our partner public charter school, to explore more robust, ongoing support for their graduates — more on that in future newsletters.​

For now, we’re marking graduation season the best way we know how, with some alumni spotlights that show exactly what your generosity makes possible and some news about an important new study on the value of a college degree.  We also pause to remember our founder, MaryAnn Puglisi, one year after her passing.

Read on. These stories are the reason we do this work.

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Where Are They Now?
Alumni Updates That Show Your Impact
​You gave. They soared… here's proof!

Every few months we check in with our alumni, and every few months we are reminded just how much your generosity ripples forward. Enjoy these updates from two of our long-time scholars, Anthony and Franklin, whose journeys show what becomes possible when financial barriers are alleviated as a community shows up for young people.

Anthony's Story: From Scholar to Voice Coach
The First All Out for Change® Supplemental Scholarship Awardee!

Anthony has been pursuing his opera career since his early high school days at DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He is currently navigating the early seasons of a performance career, going through a significant vocal transition from baritone to tenor, and launching a voice studio of his own. In early April, he began a new role as a voice coach at Amore Learning DC, bringing his artistry into classrooms and mentorship settings. Smaller performance opportunities have also been coming his way, and he sees each one as a step forward.

He credits AOFC's most tangible impact as housing stability during school. Removing that stressor allowed him to focus on his academic and career goals.

"The biggest impact was having a secure place to live, thanks to MaryAnn, Linda (a generous donor) and AOFC. It removed a major stressor and allowed me to focus on school and my craft." - Anthony, AOFC Scholar, pursuing an opera career in Washington, DC

Anthony also offered us thoughtful feedback, explaining that the transition from college into the professional world can feel like falling off a cliff. He's calling for more post-grad advising and career guidance and aims to serve as an inspiration for young Black men. From where we're standing, he is on the right track!

Franklin's Story: Capitol Hill Aspirations
2022 DC International School Graduate & 2025 Catholic University Graduate

We're thrilled to share that one of our hardworking award recipients, Franklin, graduated from Catholic University with a BA in Politics last December. He is now working with L'Arche, a nonprofit supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in a Direct Support Professional role and is discovering a new passion for how healthcare policy intersects with the IDD community. His long-term sights are set on Capitol Hill, possibly with a role in a congressional committee focused on foreign affairs. Franklin graduated from our partner high school, DC International in 2022.  He was among the first recipients of AOFC’s Tuition Gap Opportunity Award.

"That first year and a half of college was really rough, not much of a social life because of how much I worked. It was double the effort to try to do what a lot of people consider the bare minimum." - Franklin, on life before the Tuition Gap Opportunity Award

"After I was able to not have to pay that [tuition gap] thanks to MaryAnn and All Out for Change® — I had more time. I was able to be a Resident Assistant on campus, join clubs, be on different boards of student organizations. I was very involved and I really, really enjoyed my last two and a half years."— Franklin, on life after the Tuition Gap Opportunity Award

Franklin also shared something that stayed with us: "I do have MaryAnn to thank - she was a whimsical woman, and she taught me that it was good to be whimsical." The friendship and belief that comes alongside our financial support matters just as much as the dollars, a philosophy that our dear friend MaryAnn has left within all of us.

And on that thoughtful note….

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Remembering MaryAnn Puglisi
Founder & Chief Engagement Officer, All Out for Change®  
Forever in Our Hearts

It has been a year since the passing of our beloved founder and friend MaryAnn. She built this organization on the foundation of love for students and learning, and an unshakeable belief that removing a financial obstacle could change the entire direction of a young person's life.​

MaryAnn adored flowers, sunshine, and the unhurried joy of being outside. She would have wanted this anniversary marked not with heaviness, but with the kind of lightness she embodied. Enjoy a walk through your neighborhood, a morning at the beach, or a bike ride with no particular destination in her honor, as her warm and free spirit feels especially close as summer begins.

New Study: College grads earn more than those who don’t attend college

A sweeping new study that tracked nearly one million students at Texas public colleges delivers a clear verdict: higher education pays. Researchers followed students across bachelor's, associate's, and certificate programs and measured their earnings against peers who went straight into the workforce — factoring in tuition, fees, and lost income along the way. The bottom line: bachelor's degree entrants outearned high school graduates by nearly $87,000 over 15 years, even after college costs. And even liberal arts majors came out about $35,000 ahead. The data make a powerful case for why getting students into — and through — college changes lives.


And your support helps make it possible for talented young scholars to stay in school and finish those degrees.  Now that’s a great investment.

Read more about this important new study by the Postsecondary Commission:

Which college majors offer the best long-term return on investment? 
(CBS News Report)​

Texas Statewide Study of Postsecondary Value-added Earnings
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