The path to a higher education is commonly blocked, not by the ability of the student or the desire, but rather the financial bridge that isn’t there to connect to the two.
For Pueblo County High School student Diego Hernandez Portillo, that bridge has been built thanks to a full ride scholarship awarded to the School of Engineering and Biomedical Science (SEBS) standout.
A nonprofit based in Palo Alto, Calif., QuestBridge, awards full ride scholarships every year to its partnering universities such Stanford, Duke, Yale and Columbia, and specifically aims at awarding them to students in low-income families.
Out of the 18,500 applicants this year, 6,885 finalists were chosen and 1,464 scholarships were awarded.