New partnership to provide scholarships for low-income students

Duke announced Wednesday that it will partner with QuestBridge—a nonprofit that helps high-achieving low-income students earn scholarships to selective universities.

QuestBridge matches students with member universities through its own application process, and students accepted to Duke via QuestBridge will receive full scholarships. With the addition of Duke, the program now features 37 member universities—including Stanford, the University of Chicago and Yale. Last year, 657 students received full scholarships to attend partner universities through this service.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag explained in a Duke Today press release that Duke decided to partner with QuestBridge because of the service’s proven record.

“They have a well-established record of success in providing opportunities to students from low-income families,” Guttentag said in the release. “Colleges are uniformly impressed with the students that enroll through the QuestBridge process.”

Duke’s partnership with QuestBridge came after the University’s announcement of the Washington Duke Scholars program last NovemberThe Washington Duke scholarship—which will become available for first-generation students starting with the Class of 2020—will provide more financial aid, a four-week summer orientation program and seminars specifically designed to support the students.

Both the Washington Duke Scholars program and the QuestBridge partnership add to the University’s ongoing 1G Network orientation and support program, which began in 2009.

Students may begin applying to Duke through the QuestBridge process starting in Summer 2016.