'Demonstrating What is Possible'
Marshall For All, Marshall Forever is proving how investing in students can change the futureMarshall For All, Marshall Forever is about transforming every life the university touches. One of those lives is Marshall's senior vice president for development and the president and CEO of the Marshall University Foundation, Nico Karagosian. It was the vision of Marshall For All that brought Karagosian to Huntington.
"One of the things that really attracted me to this position was President Smith's vision for Marshall For All and, as he says, 'leveling the playing field in Appalachia,'" Karagosian said. "To have a president with such a commitment to really setting Marshall and our students up for success long term. That's what it's all about."
The Marshall For All program, which was first announced by Marshall President Brad D. Smith in September 2022, allows Marshall students to combine scholarships, grants, work opportunities and family contributions to earn their bachelor's degree without needing student loans, which will allow students to graduate with little to no debt. In addition to removing financial barriers, the program also gives its participants four levels of support: a peer mentor, a professional adviser, an academic adviser and an alumni mentor.
The university has also recently announced the addition of Marshall For All: Tuition-Free WV — an expansion of Marshall For All that allows eligible first-time freshmen from West Virginia to attend college without paying tuition. Under this expansion, West Virginia students with a family income of $65,000 or less will have their tuition and fees fully covered – with no loans required. The new program is already underway and will be applied to all accepted incoming freshmen students who qualify.
Currently, participants in the Marshall For All debt-free program are randomly selected from a pool of students who meet the criteria of being fully accepted to Marshall, completing their FAFSA for the upcoming year and being registered for orientation by April 1. The goal of the program is that in 10 years, all Marshall students will graduate from the university debt-free.
"I believe that this is becoming a demonstration project for the rest of the nation on what is possible and the role that higher education can play," Smith said.
To have this opportunity is just amazing, and I am very thankful and grateful.
The program's first cohort of 100 students was accepted in fall 2023 and the second 100 in fall 2024, with
nearly all 200 being eligible for a financial need-based Federal Pell Grant. According to Smith, national statistics show that Pell-eligible students graduate roughly 20% less than non-Pell eligible students. Marshall For All students are outperforming their Pell-eligible peers in GPA, year-over-year retention, and engagement on campus. They're also outperforming non-Pell eligible students in the same categories. "We currently have two years of data that introducing a program like this can not only level the playing field, but they can potentially outperform a student who may not come from similar circumstances," Smith said. "It's gotten me super excited."
The Marshall University Foundation is working to help secure financial support for the program, and Karagosian has seen incredible support since coming to Marshall in August. "Donors can see that they can make a difference and that Marshall is making a difference," he said. "People are excited about the potential of contributing to that and watching Marshall and our students continue to be successful."
In October, Marshall announced a gift of $5 million from the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Charitable Foundation to support Marshall For All. The foundation was founded by Sheryl Sandberg, former chief operating officer of Meta and founder of Lean In.
"Those transformational gifts that come in, they take your breath away with the impact that they're going to have," Karagosian said. "The wonderful part of that gift is that it's not only going to help an incoming cohort of these students, but also a portion of it is going into the endowment to fund the program in perpetuity."
Karagosian and Smith agree that the Sandberg gift shows the impact Marshall For All is having across the country.
"It's a vote of confidence that what we're doing is bold and it's transformational," Smith said. "It signifies our message is resonating with innovators, thought leaders and philanthropists who see the possibilities of what we're doing and what it could mean to the nation. It demonstrated that we can seek support for Marshall For All even from those that may not have a direct affiliation to Marshall." While Smith and Karagosian continue to seek those transformational gifts, both emphasize the importance of alumni support for the program.
"Here's an opportunity for alumni to give back and to help students have the same Marshall experience they did and set those students up for success in the future," Karagosian said. "And this isn't just about multimillion dollar gifts. Every single gift that comes in is important to the Foundation and Marshall University."
"Alumni already serve as what's possible," Smith said. "So just by being Marshall alumni, they set the standard. Now they can transform lives for generations to come by supporting Marshall For All, Marshall Forever."
"As we begin to tell some of these students' stories and we hear their excitement about having this opportunity and their backgrounds and what they've gone through to get
The program's first cohort of 100 students was accepted in fall 2023 and the second 100 in fall 2024, with nearly all 200 being eligible for a financial need-based Federal Pell Grant. According to Smith, national statistics show that Pell-eligible students graduate roughly 20% less than non-Pell eligible students. Marshall For All students are outperforming their Pell-eligible peers in GPA, year-over-year retention, and engagement on campus. They're also outperforming non-Pell eligible students in the same categories. "We currently have two years of data that introducing a program like this can not only level the playing field, but they can potentially outperform a student who may not come from similar circumstances," Smith said. "It's gotten me super excited."
The Marshall University Foundation is working to help secure financial support for the program, and Karagosian has seen incredible support since coming to Marshall in August. "Donors can see that they can make a difference and that Marshall is making a difference," he said. "People are excited about the potential of contributing to that and watching Marshall and our students continue to be successful."
In October, Marshall announced a gift of $5 million from the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Charitable Foundation to support Marshall For All. The foundation was founded by Sheryl Sandberg, former chief operating officer of Meta and founder of Lean In.
"Those transformational gifts that come in, they take your breath away with the impact that they're going to have," Karagosian said. "The wonderful part of that gift is that it's not only going to help an incoming cohort of these students, but also a portion of it is going into the endowment to fund the program in perpetuity."
Karagosian and Smith agree that the Sandberg gift shows the impact Marshall For All is having across the country.
"It's a vote of confidence that what we're doing is bold and it's transformational," Smith said. "It signifies our message is resonating with innovators, thought leaders and philanthropists who see the possibilities of what we're doing and what it could mean to the nation. It demonstrated that we can seek support for Marshall For All even from those that may not have a direct affiliation to Marshall." While Smith and Karagosian continue to seek those transformational gifts, both emphasize the importance of alumni support for the program.
"Here's an opportunity for alumni to give back and to help students have the same Marshall experience they did and set those students up for success in the future," Karagosian said. "And this isn't just about multimillion dollar gifts. Every single gift that comes in is important to the Foundation and Marshall University."
"Alumni already serve as what's possible," Smith said. "So just by being Marshall alumni, they set the standard. Now they can transform lives for generations to come by supporting Marshall For All, Marshall Forever."
"As we begin to tell some of these students' stories and we hear their excitement about having this opportunity and their backgrounds and what they've gone through to get