All eight Ivies now partner with QuestBridge
On Thursday, Harvard became the final Ivy League institution to join the partnership, with its class of 2030 being the first eligible to apply through the match-based program. The News spoke with current and former QuestBridge finalists about the importance of the program.

Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor
Harvard University announced on Thursday that it will partner with the QuestBridge National College Match Program, becoming the final Ivy League institution to join the program.
QuestBridge connects low-income high school seniors with full scholarships to partner institutions. Through the program, scholars can rank up to 15 schools in order of preference. They are then matched with the school ranked highest on the list that decides to offer them admission. Last year, Cornell joined QuestBridge, leaving Harvard as the only Ivy League school not partnered with the program. With Harvard’s announcement, it joins Yale and the other 54 institutions that partner with the organization.
Mariam Iqbal, who matched with Yale in December, shared her excitement about QuestBridge’s ever-increasing outreach and commitment to serving first-generation, low-income — or FGLI — students.
“It’s not surprising that increasing numbers of FGLI students are gravitating towards QuestBridge as it is an application platform that is specifically tailored to highlight the unique experiences of FGLI students in an authentic way,” she said.
Since 2007, Yale has collaborated with QuestBridge to support high-achieving, low-income high school students. As one of QuestBridge’s partner institutions, Yale offers a binding admission process to matched students. Those who match with Yale are also guaranteed a $0 parent share award.
Sofia Colorado ’28 said that she first decided to apply through QuestBridge because it provided a way to apply to prestigious universities without having to pay the application fee.
However, as she completed the application and became a finalist, she discovered more about the program and its practicality.
“I actually learned how Questbridge not only helped with the financial aspect of applications but also helped me distinguish myself amongst my peers,” she wrote.
Moira Poe, director of strategic priorities at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, also highlighted the unique components within the QuestBridge application process that assist FGLI students in the application process.
“The QuestBridge application is specifically designed for students from lower-income backgrounds and includes questions that encourage students to share parts of their story that might not be included on the Common Application,” she wrote.
Despite the differences in the application process, Mark Dunn, director of outreach and recruitment at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, clarified that Yale’s admissions and financial aid policies are the same for all students regardless of when or how they apply.
This year, out of over 25,500 applicants, QuestBridge selected 7,288 finalists to be considered for the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship. QuestBridge, which had 52 college partners at the time, matched with 2,627 finalists, the highest number of Match Scholarship Recipients to date.
According to Poe, Yale has proactively spread the word about the matching scholarship. She detailed Yale’s involvement with QuestBridge programming, sharing that the partnership is mentioned in every admissions officer-led information session.
Additionally, Yale is an active member in an outreach consortium called “Quest for College” that features five QuestBridge partner colleges and QuestBridge organization representatives in virtual and in-person events. Yale has previously hosted the one-day QuestBridge Conference and plans to welcome the conference back to campus in the future.
Yale QuestBridge’s student chapter has also worked with the Yale First-Gen and/or Low-income Advocacy Movement and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to foster awareness and community. According to co-president Hang Chen ’26, the goal of the Yale QuestBridge chapter is to organize events for the over 300 scholars on campus and other FGLI students.
“The most rewarding part of our work is to see all of the incoming first years and their excitement on Bulldog Days or during the first few events on campus,” Chen said.
66 QuestBridge Scholars joined Yale’s class of 2029.