EDGEWOOD, MD — The Edgewood High School International Baccalaureate class of 2025 has earned a record-breaking $21,592,835 in college scholarship offers.
According to school officials, this marks the highest total ever for an international baccalaureate graduating class at the school. With 46 students completing the program, the class averaged more than $469,000 in scholarship offers per student. Seniors graduated from the IB Diploma Programme during a special recognition ceremony held May 22 then received their high school diplomas at Edgewood High School’s graduation May 23.
Graduate Elroni Berhanu plans to attend the University of Michigan to major in actuarial mathematics and minor in economics. Part of his $1.2 million in scholarship offers included the University of Michigan Victors Award.
“The IB program gave me amazing college and career preparation. I developed strong critical thinking skills, a global perspective and a solid understanding of connections between subjects,” he said. “Its rigorous curriculum showed colleges I was challenging myself and helped me develop strong writing skills for college and scholarship applications.”
Ava Demcher earned more than $500,000 in scholarship offers and will attend Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications to study television, radio and film.
“I’ve always been passionate about writing, and the IB program helped me access that part of myself with refinement and led me to what I hope is my future career – film. Once I found my passion, I found my dream school, but during admissions I almost gave up on that dream because of cost. Then IB pushed me again. This program helped me stand out from an insanely competitive pool of applicants, and I was selected as a ;leadership scholar. Now I can attend my dream school and start my path to becoming a director and screenwriter,” Demcher said.
Zoe Plauger, who plans to major in leadership management consulting and Spanish at Loyola University Maryland, was selected to be part of the Sellinger Scholars Program at Loyola.
“In the IB program, I always felt I had a community to support me,” Plauger said. “Whether helping each other with a tough math problem, collaborating on projects or just sharing snacks, we always had each other. I feel prepared for college and my future, and more connected to the world. Knowing students across the globe are learning similar things makes what I did in IB feel even more significant.”
Dakota Dukes, who earned more than $360,000 in scholarship offers, will attend Auburn University to major in finance. She earned the Auburn University Academic Charter Scholarship.
“Before I entered IB, I was enrolled in AP and Honors classes. In those, I had a lot of work—but it was just work I had to do,” she said. “Once I started IB, I was exposed to the idea of doing schoolwork to genuinely learn from it. The work enriched my passion for learning and pushed me to understand the world around me, rather than just pass tests and get good grades. I was able to personalize my academics to fit my passions and discover new ones. At some point in college, I want to study or travel abroad. IB helped build the confidence I need to accomplish that goal and opened my eyes and mind to want to explore and understand other cultures.”
Attending the University of Delaware to pursue communications and theatre studies will be Alicia Pembroke. She has received more than $656,000 in scholarship offers, including the University of Delaware Presidential Scholarship.
“The IB program has been a transformative experience, both academically and personally. It gave me the opportunity to choose a college that aligns with my aspirations. I will be a first-generation college student, and college was never an expectation in my family, but IB instilled a sense of faith in my family that I will succeed and be supported academically and financially,” she said. “I never imagined being sought out by competitive colleges and scholarship programs. The rigorous curriculum and engaging discussions in IB cultivated a global understanding that shaped me into a more thoughtful and informed learner.
“Most importantly, IB gave me a network of supportive teachers, counselors, and peers who helped me through difficult times. Without them, I may not have been successful or maintained a positive outlook on my future. It didn’t just prepare me for college—it made my family proud in ways we never expected. That, to me, is the most meaningful success of all,” she added.
The IB Diploma Programme is an internationally recognized educational curriculum designed for high school students aged 16 to 19. It emphasizes critical thinking, intercultural understanding and academic depth through a challenging framework that includes six subject areas, a Theory of Knowledge course, a 4,000-word extended essay and a commitment to creativity, activity and service, according to Harford County Public Schools.
The class of 2025 received scholarship offers from colleges and universities across the country. Notable awards include the Banneker-Key Scholarship at the University of Maryland, the Sellinger Scholars Program at Loyola University Maryland, the Academic Excellence Scholarship at the University of Delaware and full-ride offers from schools such as Coppin State University, the University of Delaware, University of Pittsburgh and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Students from the class of 2025 also were accepted to institutions such as the Auburn University, University of Pittsburgh, Berklee College of Music, Temple University, Elon University, De La Salle Health Sciences Institute in the Philippines and Rice University.
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