Alumni Spotlight: Dollars for Scholars Recipient, Navy SEAL and MBA Caleb Schmidt

As a first-generation college student, Caleb Schmidt understood early on that higher education could open doors he hadn’t yet imagined. 

“I really wanted to make something of myself,” he said. “I knew that college was going to open a lot of doors for me.” 

But wanting to go to college and knowing how to get there were two different things. 

Like many first-generation students, Caleb had to navigate financial aid, the FAFSA, and the college application process largely on his own. He never doubted that college was the right path—the harder question was how to make it financially possible. 

“The biggest challenge for me was trying to figure out how to pay for college and understand all of the administrative things I needed to successfully navigate the process,” he said. 

Like many students in his position, Caleb found support through his local chapter of Dollars for Scholars, Scholarship America’s community-based program that connects students with scholarship funding and local volunteers who help guide them through the college process. 

The award became part of the financial support system that helped make college attainable. 

“It was one of many pieces that I had to pull together to make college work for me,” Caleb said. “By itself, it didn’t make it all happen, but it was a critical component of the entire package.” 

The scholarship also meant something more personal than the dollars themselves. “It felt like people believed in me and my ability to be successful in college,” Caleb said—and that sense of community support stayed with him long after graduation. 

After College: Pursuing a Calling

After earning his degree, Caleb enlisted in the Navy with the goal of becoming a Navy SEAL, completing one of the most demanding military selection processes in the world. His college experience, he said, gave him the confidence to take that leap. 

“Earning my degree gave me more confidence in my ability to take a risk,” he said. “I knew that I likely had options if it weren’t to work out.” 

Following his military service, Caleb pursued an MBA with support from the GI Bill and additional scholarships, which, he said, “lessened the burden and allowed me to focus more on my studies and figuring out what it was that I wanted to do post-MBA.” 

Today, Caleb is a Partner and co-founder at Duco Capital, a Minneapolis-based private equity firm that acquires and grows companies across the Upper Midwest. 

Looking back on the path that brought him here, Caleb points to the mindset that helped him navigate uncertainty along the way. 

“My best piece of advice is this,” he said. “If you want it more than anyone else, then taking risks and betting on yourself is the best thing that you can do.”