Harvard's QuestBridge Partnership Receives Mixed Reactions

Harvard affiliates expressed excitement about the University’s new partnership with QuestBridge’s National College Match program, though some held reservations about its impact on the diversity of incoming classes.

The partnership, which was announced Jan. 23, is the latest addition Harvard has made to its recruitment efforts in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action in 2023. Harvard was the last Ivy League school to join the program, which is designed to help low-income students gain full scholarships to top schools.

Many students expressed praise about how this partnership will help Harvard increase the socioeconomic diversity of the student body.

Tiffany V. Tran ’28 said she thought the partnership would have a “positive” impact on Harvard’s incoming classes.

“I feel like just expanding a number of opportunities to students who may not have had the chance to attend an institution like this — that’s a great way to increase diversity,” Tran said.

“I fully support it,” she added.

Shakira Ali ’28, a former QuestBridge finalist who did not match with any of her top-ranked schools, said the program would make applying to Harvard more accessible for low-income students.

“There’s a lot of talented people out there, and people just don’t apply because they have a lot of financial constraints,” Ali said. “I think it’ll be good for both Harvard and all the QuestBridge scholars out there.”

College admissions experts had mixed opinions about whether the partnership would encourage more low-income students to apply to Harvard.

Anthony A. Jack, an associate professor of higher education leadership at Boston University who researches the inequalities in the college admissions process, said QuestBridge will magnify Harvard’s outreach efforts in underrepresented areas.

“An admissions office, even one as big as Harvard, cannot go to every city in every state across the country,” Jack said. “But when you are able to partner with places that are at strategic nodes across the country, then you can amplify your message in very different ways.”

But other experts still cast doubt on whether this move will actually change Harvard’s student demographics.

“I don’t know that Questbridge could help Harvard because Harvard is not an unknown quantity,” Akil Bello, an education policy consultant, said. “There are no students who could conceivably be admitted who have not heard of Harvard in all likelihood.”

It is also possible for students who fit Harvard’s criteria to get a full scholarship to the College even if they do not get matched by QuestBridge. Though Questbridge requires applicants to have a family income of $65,000 or less to participate in the program, Harvard currently provides cost-free attendance for students with a family income of $85,000 or less per year.

“Harvard is not hurting in the category of name recognition or getting people to know who it is,” Jack said. “But Harvard is hurting in the sense of: can I afford it? How will I be treated there? Will I be supported?”

“Overall, I definitely think it’s a positive,” Angel A. Rabines ’28 said.

“Long ago, Harvard should have been added to QuestBridge, but better late than never,” she added.

—Staff writer Cassidy M. Cheng can be reached at cassidy.cheng@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cassidy_cheng28.

—Staff writer Claire T. Grumbacher can be reached at claire.grumbacher@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @clairegrumbachr.