QuestBridge: Scaling College Access with Ana Rowena Mallari

Inspiration

Ana Mallari was inspired to start QuestBridge after realizing the disparity in educational opportunities among her high school peers. Despite being close to Stanford, many students from surrounding communities couldn't access similar resources. This realization led her to leverage Stanford's resources to help high-achieving, low-income students experience opportunities they might otherwise miss 1.

I realized that the students I went to high school with, that I had classes with, that I played on sports teams with from all over the surrounding communities, East Palo Alto, East Redwood City. Many of them were never going to be able to access those kinds of opportunities without being able to attend a Stanford or a similar institution.

--- Ana Mallari

The initial iteration of QuestBridge was a small residential summer program at Stanford, which quickly demonstrated the potential of these students 2.

   

Residential Program

The first summer residential program at Stanford brought together 20 high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds. They participated in classes, field trips, and cultural activities, showcasing their potential and resilience 1. This program revealed that these students were just as capable as their more privileged peers, leading to a high success rate in college admissions.

All of them were extremely appealing and attractive candidates and like 90% of them went to Stanford over years of time.

--- Ana Mallari

However, scaling this model proved challenging due to the high costs and logistical complexities, prompting QuestBridge to explore other scalable models 3.