QuestBridge National College Match Program

The QuestBridge National College Match helps outstanding low-income high school seniors gain admission and full four-year scholarships to some of the nation's most selective colleges.

If you are a student who has achieved academic excellence in the face of economic challenges, we encourage you to apply to the National College Match. You may be concerned about tuition costs, but QuestBridge's partner colleges offer generous financial aid packages that cover 100% of demonstrated financial need, making them very affordable for low-income students.

Last year, QuestBridge's partner colleges offered admission and more than $100 million in financial aid to over 1,000 students who applied to the National College Match.

The key benefits of the National College Match program include:

Full four-year scholarships with no loans

Top-ranked colleges

A focus on high-achieving low-income students

Two opportunities for college admission

A free application

A national Quest Scholars Network

Quest for Excellence Awards

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.

Most of our partner colleges include the cost of travel and books in their scholarship packages and automatically renew the scholarship for all four years of college.
Last year, 260 students were selected as College Match recipients and received admission and full four-year College Match Scholarships to partner colleges.

Click here for more details on the College Match scholarship.

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

QuestBridge works with some of the nation's leading colleges and universities. All of our partner colleges are committed to opening their doors to high-achieving students regardless of family income. Our 27 partner colleges are among the most selective in the country, and include:

Liberal arts colleges that offer small class sizes and tight-knit campus communities.
Research universities that provide a broad range of academic specialties, resources and facilities.

Click here for more details on QuestBridge's partner colleges.

The QuestBridge National College Match has been created to maximize the admissions chances and financial aid results for high-achieving low-income students.

Socio-economic identification: By participating in the QuestBridge program, students ensure that their socio-economic status is understood by admissions officers at QuestBridge partner colleges who are actively seeking to increase the number of outstanding low-income students on their campuses. For information on some of the characteristics that QuestBridge and our partner colleges look for in students, please see the following pages:

The QuestBridge application: Our application is designed to help high-achieving students turn their low-income status 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 and are loan-free, 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.

"For years, I've pictured myself on a college campus being taught by incredible professors and surrounded by beautiful gothic architecture. However, I knew that for this to happen I'd need a scholarship to get the higher education that I truly desired. QuestBridge made my dream a reality."

Marsha Moses

Brooklyn, NY

2008 College Match
scholarship recipient
University of Chicago, Class of 2013

The QuestBridge National College Match program offers two chances to gain admission to our partner colleges:

The QuestBridge College Match process pairs outstanding low-income students with early admission and full four-year scholarships to top-ranked colleges.
- Students participating in the College Match process complete one application by September 30 and use it to apply early to up to 8 of QuestBridge's 27 partner colleges, ranking the schools in order of preference. The rankings are binding (with the exception of MIT,
  Notre Dame, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale); students must attend
  the school highest on their ranking list that also admits them.
  Please see the College Match Process page for details.
- Last year, 260 QuestBridge applicants who participated in the
  College Match process were selected as College Match scholarship recipients, gaining admission and full scholarships to our partner colleges.
The QuestBridge Regular Decision process enables qualified students
to apply to our partner colleges for free via the regular admissions
process using their QuestBridge application.
- Most of our partner colleges accept the QuestBridge application in lieu of their own application for Regular Decision admission. Those that do not will use the QuestBridge application as a supplement. Please see the Regular Decision Process page for details.
- Last year, our partner colleges offered admission and generous financial aid to more than 800 QuestBridge applicants who applied through the Regular Decision process.

Students can take advantage of either or both opportunities. Outstanding low-income students who are not interested in participating in the College Match process can choose to rank zero partner colleges and then to apply to their preferred partner colleges solely through the Regular Decision process (students making this choice must still submit their application by September 30). This option can benefit students who want to take advantage of other benefits that QuestBridge offers to students beyond the College Match process through its focus on high-achieving low-income students and the Quest Scholars Network.

Applying to the National College Match is completely free of charge. The National College Match is offered by QuestBridge, a nationally focused non-profit program. Our organization has worked since 1994 to place top-tier college education within reach for outstanding low-income students. In keeping with our mission as a non-profit organization, QuestBridge charges no fees to students for any of our programs.

Additionally, QuestBridge strives to ensure that National College Match finalists can afford all aspects of the college admissions process by partnering with colleges that waive their application fees for finalists. QuestBridge will also sponsor CSS PROFILE fee waivers for a limited number of finalists. Please click here for more information.

Click here to access the National College Match application, along with instructions for how to apply.

National College Match applicants who gain admission to our partner colleges will join a national community of hundreds of Quest Scholars who are as committed to helping others as they are to their own academic excellence and professional aspirations. The Quest Scholars Network offers a range of educational and career opportunities, and also involves significant responsibilities:

Campus communities: When Quest Scholars arrive on campus to begin their freshman year, they are invited to join the college's Quest Scholars chapter. The campus Quest Scholars chapters are designed as communities where students with similar backgrounds and values can help one another navigate the opportunities and challenges of life at selective colleges.
Mentoring: During college and beyond, Quest Scholars will have access to the national Quest Scholars Network of hundreds of previous Quest Scholars who can offer advice and professional connections to help along the way.
Leadership Retreats: Quest Scholars have the opportunity to participate in annual Quest Scholars Leadership Retreats at Stanford or Yale. Leadership Retreats provide an opportunity to get to know other Quest Scholars, build leadership skills, and inspire younger students as they begin the college admissions process at QuestBridge's College Admissions Conferences.
Summer Service Awards: Quest Summer Service Awards recognize two outstanding proposals by Quest Scholars with grants of $1,500. Each summer project demonstrates a commitment to public service, community outreach, and/or any related efforts that reach out to low-income communities through education or volunteer work.
Graduate and professional opportunities: As QuestBridge extends its program to include partners such as graduate schools and employers (most recently, the Wall Street Journal), Quest Scholars will have access to new opportunities that these partnerships will offer.
Giving back: New Quest Scholars will in turn be called on to connect younger students with the same opportunities from which they benefited. QuestBridge will ask Quest Scholars to participate in outreach to outstanding low-income students and to offer guidance to high school juniors and seniors as they navigate the college admissions process.

Click here for more details on opportunities available through the Quest Scholars Network.

QuestBridge is pleased to offer nine Quest for Excellence Awards that will complement the National College Match program. These additional awards are designed to enhance educational and career exploration for outstanding low-income high school seniors with a range of backgrounds and interests.

Each awardee will receive:

a new laptop computer.
an all-expense-paid visit to a QuestBridge partner college.

Most of the awards also include career mentoring opportunities from successful individuals and organizations (e.g., the Wall Street Journal and the consulting firm McKinsey & Company) to provide a unique perspective on professional life.

Click here for more details on the Quest for Excellence Awards.