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Program Description and Benefits
Full Four-Year Scholarships with No Loans
The College Match offers full four-year scholarships covering tuition and room and board for high-achieving low-income students. All College Match scholarships cover 100% of demonstrated financial need and are loan-free.
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FACT: All College Match scholarships include $0 parental contribution, and most of our partner colleges automatically renew the scholarship for all four years of college.
FACT: In 2011, 321 students were selected as College Match recipients and received admission and full College Match Scholarships to partner colleges.
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Top-Ranked Colleges
QuestBridge's partner colleges include many of the nation's leading colleges and universities, and all are committed to seeking out and admitting high-achieving students regardless of family income. Our partner colleges are among the most selective in the country, and include liberal arts colleges and research universities. Read more about our partner colleges.
Focus on High-Achieving Low-Income Students
The QuestBridge National College Match was created to maximize the admissions chances and financial aid results for high-achieving low-income students.
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- Socio-economic identification. QuestBridge partner colleges are actively seeking to increase the number of outstanding low-income students on their campuses. When our partner colleges see a QuestBridge application, they are able to recognize a student's achievements in the context of a low-income background.
- The QuestBridge application. Our application is designed to help high-achieving students turn their challenges into an advantage in the college admissions process. The application includes numerous questions and essay prompts that aid students in presenting a full picture of their intellectual promise and personal qualities in light of the obstacles they have overcome.
- Excellent financial aid. All of QuestBridge's partner colleges offer financial aid packages that cover 100% of demonstrated financial need, so students can be assured that attending a top-tier college will not place a financial burden on their family. Our partner colleges' financial aid packages are so generous that the real cost of attendance is typically lower than the cost of attending a state university or a local community college.
Read more on selection criteria and student profiles.
Two Opportunities for College Admission
1. The QuestBridge College Match Process
Students complete one application by September 28 and use it to apply to up to 8 of QuestBridge's partner colleges. Students rank their school choices in order of preference. The rankings are binding, meaning if a student is selected for a Match scholarship with a school he or she ranked, the student must attend that school. (Four of our partner schools are non-binding: MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale. If a student is selected for a match scholarship with one of these non-binding four schools, he or she is not required to attend that school.) Students will be selected for a Match scholarship if a school on their ranking list chooses to admit them; students will then be "matched" with the school highest on their ranking list that admitted them.
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FACT: Last year, 321 QuestBridge applicants who participated in the College Match were selected as College Match scholarship recipients, and received admission and full scholarships to our partner colleges.
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2. The QuestBridge Regular Decision Process
Students may also apply to our partner colleges for the Regular Decision process, which is non-binding. This process enables qualified students to apply to our partner colleges for free using their QuestBridge application. Many of our partners accept the QuestBridge application in lieu of their standard application for Regular Decision admission; those that do not will use the QuestBridge application as a supplement. Because our partner colleges commit to covering 100% of demonstrated need, many QuestBridge applicants who apply for Regular Decision are admitted with very generous financial aid packages.
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FACT: Last year, over 1,300 QuestBridge applicants who applied to our partner colleges for Regular Decision were offered admission and generous financial aid.
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Applicants can take advantage of either or both the College Match and the Regular Decision process. Outstanding low-income students who are not interested in participating in the College Match process can choose not to rank any partner colleges and apply to the partner colleges of their choice solely through the Regular Decision process (students who make this choice must still submit their application by September 28). This option can help students who want to take advantage of other benefits that QuestBridge offers to students through its focus on high-achieving low-income students and the Quest Scholars Network.
One Free Application
As a non-profit organization, QuestBridge programs and applications are completely free of charge. Our organization has worked since 1994 to make a top-tier college education within reach for outstanding low-income students.
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Through the one QuestBridge application, students can apply to up to 8 of our partner colleges through the National College Match and/or any number of our partners through the QuestBridge Regular Decision process.
Additionally, to help ensure that National College Match finalists can afford all aspects of the college admissions process, our partner colleges waive their application fees for QuestBridge finalists.
Read more on how to apply.
Quest Scholars Network
The Quest Scholars Network is a program for QuestBridge finalists who gain admission to QuestBridge partner colleges. The Quest Scholars Network seeks to unite the program's Scholars by connecting them through an online network and supportive local Quest Scholar Chapters on each partner college campus.
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The Quest Scholars Network focuses on providing scholarship, leadership, and service opportunities as well as tools that will help Quest Scholars succeed in college and beyond.
Visit the Quest Scholars Network website.
Quest for Excellence Awards
QuestBridge offers Quest for Excellence Awards as a complement to the National College Match program. These additional awards are designed to enhance educational exploration for outstanding low-income high school seniors with a range of backgrounds and interests. Applicants are eligible to receive awards such as a new laptop computers or funding to cover a visit to a QuestBridge partner college.
Read more on Quest for Excellence Awards.
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