Quest Scholars Program

Mission Statement

Our Vision

• QuestBridge envisions a world where America's leadership encompasses thoughtful and broad-minded decision-makers drawn from every economic segment of society.
• QuestBridge will revolutionize the way leading colleges and universities recruit talented low-income students, and the way these students approach their educations and futures.

Our Mission

• QuestBridge aims to create a singular place where exceptionally talented low-income students can navigate educational and life opportunities.
• QuestBridge recruits, develops, and supports motivated low-income students - beginning in high school through college to their first job - to be successful at America's best colleges, graduate schools, and companies.

What We Know

• Abundant low-income talent exists. Annually, approximately 30,000 low-income students score over 1300 on the combined math and verbal SAT scores, and another 42,000 score over 1220. Moreover, over a third of top low-income performers don't take the SAT. Already in the system, there is abundant raw talent and tens of thousands of academically prepared talented low-income students in America to match top low-income students with every full-need scholarship that top American colleges provide. There need be no academic gap if we can bring our best low-income students into the system.
• Most top low-income students in America don't apply to top colleges who want them. In one study, only 3% of the students attending the nation's top 146 colleges and universities were drawn from families in the lowest economic quartile.
• Better recruitment can close this gap.

What We Believe

• Intelligence, talent, motivation, nobility, and grit are distributed across the entire economic spectrum of America's youth.
• Many elite colleges and universities, Fortune 500 corporations, and top graduate schools sincerely strive to embrace the county's most talented, determined, and self-motivated students. But they often lack the reach to attract appropriate candidates from low-income populations.
• America has an undiscovered population of talented low-income youth. Some of our brightest young minds are well-suited to opportunities, but unconnected for simple lack of information, mentorship, and other surmountable barriers.
• In an increasingly global marketplace, America will not continue to prosper unless we make best use of the latent talent brimming within our borders.