DC College Access Program and NBA Foundation Announce New Partnership to Expand Career-Connected Learning

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DC College Access Program and NBA Foundation Announce New Partnership to Expand Career-Connected Learning

Washington, DC — July 2026 — The DC College Access Program (DC CAP) is proud to announce new grant funding from the NBA Foundation to expand Career-Connected Learning (CCL), which helps DC CAP scholars turn their degrees into careers through exploration, preparation and employability. The partnership brings integrated CCL programming across DC CAP's university partners, starting with the 2026-2027 incoming cohort of approximately 120 scholars.

Founded in 1999 on the belief that a student's zip code should never determine whether they earn a college degree, DC CAP's University Partners program supports over 800 scholars with $5.4 million in scholarships and year-round, cohort-based coaching. Scholars graduate at rates of 75% to 95%, four to five times the national average for their peer group.

As DC CAP continues to support our scholars through holistic programming, we want to ensure scholars have accessible career and labor market data to make informed decisions about their careers.

DC CAP’s Career-Connected Learning initiative addresses that gap. The initiative's framework is supported by three AI-powered tools now in development that give scholars and coaches real-time career and labor market intelligence. With the NBA Foundation's support, DC CAP will scale programming across its university network.

DC CAP's 14 university partners are Alabama A&M University, American University, Arizona State University Local, The Catholic University of America, Florida A&M University, George Mason University, Kent State University, Marshall University, Marymount University, North Carolina A&T State University, SUNY Oswego, Trinity University, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and West Chester University.

"For DC CAP students, access is only the first step. They push through all of it — financial stress, imposter syndrome, and every moment when giving up is the easier choice — in order to persist and succeed,” said Eric Waldo, President and CEO of the DC College Access Program (DC CAP). “Our scholars are proof that when a city commits to seeing its young people all the way through, past their freshman dorm and all the way to their graduation stage, extraordinary things happen. That commitment is only possible because of partners, like the NBA Foundation, who are as rooted in this community as we are — and who understand that a student's circumstances should never determine what they become.”

The grant will help fund the development of DC CAP's Career-Connected Learning tools and programming as the organization prepares to welcome its 2026-27 cohort.

About DC CAP

The DC College Access Program (DC CAP Scholars) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating the higher education achievement gap for DC students by helping them access and attain meaningful college degrees with little to no debt. DC CAP believes that a student's personal circumstances should never determine their ability to succeed. By leveraging financial resources, connecting students with excellent partner universities, and providing wraparound support, DC CAP works to ensure students graduate ready to compete in today's economy. Learn more at dccap.org.

For media inquiries, please contact Alex Vassiliadis at alexander.vassiliadis@dccap.org.