BC Becomes a Top QuestBridge Destination

Josh Cruz ’25 was a gifted high school student, but growing up in Washington state and Texas, he wasn't as familiar with Boston College as he was with other colleges. Then he learned about the University from an innovative program called QuestBridge, which matches excellent students from low-income backgrounds with top colleges that are willing to commit to full scholarships. BC appealed to Cruz immediately, in part because of the focus on formative education. “I was a person who, at that point in my life, had no idea about what I wanted to pursue,” Cruz said recently. “Seeing a school that’s like, We’re here to care for you, really develop you in all aspects of your life—I was really drawn to that.”

All across the country, there are students just like Cruz. They’re high-achieving, academically driven, and from low-income families. They have the skills to thrive in an elite educational institution, but identifying such schools, navigating the application process, and then securing financial aid can pose a significant challenge. The QuestBridge program resolves that problem by connecting such students with colleges that are good fits, and that also are able to meet their full financial need. Boston College is one of fifty-two standout colleges and universities that have been invited to participate in the QuestBridge program, a group that includes institutions such as Yale, Princeton, and MIT. BC welcomed its first students from the program in 2020; by 2024, the school enrolled the second-most students in the national match program out of all participating institutions.

BC intended from the very beginning to admit a large number of QuestBridge students, said Grant Gosselin, dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid. While some schools start out their participation in the program by enrolling ten or twenty students, Boston College enrolled fifty in its first year. The next year, University President William P. Leahy, SJ, committed to increasing participation to seventy-five students. In the third year, the number went up again, to ninety students. This fall, 115 students have matriculated through the QuestBridge program. “The fact that we’ve risen to the top of the list is not a result of promotion,” Gosselin said. “It’s a result of our commitment.” When it comes to finding high-achieving students, he added, QuestBridge has “allowed us to expand our reach nationally, and even around the world.”

That expanded reach is what allows BC to enroll excellent students such as Cruz, who is pursuing a dual degree in computer science and management. When he graduates in May, he’ll be part of BC’s first class of QuestBridge scholars to do so. “Being able to make friends and connections,” he said, “and then find out, Oh, you’re a QuestBridge student, too?,  that’s one of the best kinds of connections you can make on BC’s campus."