Cary Academy is setting a new standard for access and affordability in independent education. Introducing Charger Promise—free tuition for families earning $100,000 or less, with significant, scaled support extending far beyond that.
Grounded in our founding values and propelled by an alum whose own CA beginning transformed her future, Charger Promise is more than an enhancement to financial aid. It marks a defining moment in CA’s evolution, a bold affirmation that excellence and access belong together, and that our future is brightest when more students can step fully into it.
Charger Promise makes CA both imaginable and attainable for families who might not have otherwise considered an independent school. For students receiving assistance, it removes barriers to full participation in school life, from debate tournaments to artistic projects to prom tickets. And across the CA community, classrooms, conversations, performances, and programs are enriched by the inclusion of a broader range of voices and experiences.
A founding value
It also reaffirms a truth that has guided Cary Academy since its earliest days. Founding visionaries Dr. Jim and Ann Goodnight and John and Ginger Sall believed that an exceptional education should be accessible to all qualified students, regardless of financial circumstance. For nearly three decades, the school has lived that belief, providing substantial financial assistance across a wide range of economic profiles. Last year alone, CA awarded $3.1 million in financial aid, meeting 100% of demonstrated need for 128 families.
Endowed funds from the Goodnights continue to underwrite much of CA’s financial aid. Believed to be the first initiative of its kind for independent schools in the Southeast, Charger Promise builds on that base, adding new resources to expand opportunity for the next generation of Chargers.
Opening doors
Fittingly, one of the people helping drive Charger Promise is someone who once entered CA through financial aid herself—and whose life was transformed because of it.
Holly May, ’05, didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur, a nonprofit founder, or the philanthropic spark behind Charger Promise. But her experiences at Cary Academy and the possibilities they unlocked shaped every step that followed.
“CA opened my eyes to possibilities I hadn’t dared imagine,” Holly reflects. “My potential wasn’t just noticed; it mattered and was nurtured. That kind of belief stays with you long after you leave.”
Over the years, Holly and her husband, Travis May, ’05, a fellow alum, have kept CA close (so close, in fact, that they were married on the Quad). As longtime, engaged alumni, and through Holly’s service on the Board of Directors, they have championed broader access for future Chargers. Their gifts have helped move a long-standing aspiration into launch-ready reality, extending the same transformative opportunity Holly once received to the Chargers who will follow.
Visionary impact
Holly’s story offers a powerful lens into what Charger Promise represents: the transformative impact of access and the responsibility to extend it forward.
When Holly arrived at CA as a sixth grader supported by financial aid, she stepped into a community that pushed, stretched, challenged, and believed in her. In her words, CA was “the delta”—the turning point—in her life. The catalyst that reshaped her sense of what was possible.
Her path since—spanning entrepreneurship, nonprofit work, and philanthropy—reflects a throughline of curiosity, purpose, and commitment to opening doors for others.
In 2025, Holly founded Exponential Scholars, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to transformative educational experiences for underrepresented youth in North Carolina. Through scholarships, mentoring, and enrichment opportunities, the organization mirrors the values that shaped her own life—the same values that drive Charger Promise.
“Potential is everywhere, yet life-changing opportunity is not,” Holly says. “And when you clear the barriers that stand in the way—whether at CA or in communities across North Carolina—you can dramatically change the course of a young person’s life.”
That alignment of mission and personal experience made supporting Charger Promise especially meaningful.
“When CA started rethinking what affordability could look like, it resonated with me,” she says. “This place shaped who I became; it changed my life. Opening that door for others just felt right.”
Promise to possibility
When asked what she hopes this initiative communicates, Holly is clear: “Possibility. More than anything, I want families across the Triangle to feel that CA is truly accessible to them. That they can belong here and thrive and unlock their child’s potential.”
Her words echo what her own teachers once saw in her. They also capture the purpose of Charger Promise: not simply to assist families, but to expand who gets to imagine themselves here—and to broaden the futures shaped by Cary Academy students.
For Holly, it is a full-circle moment. For CA, it is a strategic milestone. And for the students who will walk through the door thanks to this initiative, it marks the beginning of futures that might once have felt unattainable.
A new model for access
Quietly piloted last year for admitted families, the expanded Charger Promise is now open to both new and returning Chargers for the 2026–2027 academic year.
Under the expanded financial assistance program:
• Families with a combined household income of $100,000* or less will pay no cost to attend Cary Academy, including free tuition, dining, transportation, and before-care and extended-day programs. *assumes asset profile consistent with income
• Families with a diverse range of economic profiles above that threshold qualify for reductions covering anywhere from 54–95% of the cost of attendance.
• Supplementary Discovery Stipends provide all students receiving financial assistance with support for non-tuition expenses that might otherwise limit participation (e.g., academic competitions, global learning excursions, tutoring, enrichment programs, athletic gear, specialized activities, etc.)
Mission in action
Charger Promise is one of the first public expressions of Cary Academy’s new strategic plan, one grounded in cultivating a learning community where purpose thrives, opportunity is accessible, and wellness and equity are foundational.
“Affordability isn’t just a financial question,” Head of School Dr. Mike Ehrhardt notes. “It’s a values question. It asks: Who can be here? Who feels welcome? Whose potential are we committed to nurturing?
“With Charger Promise, we’re proving that excellence and equity can, and must, go hand in hand. It’s our mission in action—an expression of who we are and who we aspire to be.”
CA’s commitment to access and affordability extends well beyond this initiative. It shows up in robust student support systems, intentional access to experiential and real-world learning, transportation solutions that connect more families to campus, and curricular pathways that honor student agency and purpose.
Together, these efforts point toward a future in which access is not an aspirational goal, but a defining feature of the CA experience.
“We talk often about preparing students to shape the future,” says Ehrhardt. “For that to ring true, the opportunity to be here—to learn, to grow, to discover purpose—must be within reach. Charger Promise helps make that possible.”