Review our policy on applying early to other colleges if you are ranking colleges for the Match.
Dates & Deadlines
National College Match timeline
High-achieving students from low-income backgrounds can apply for free to our college partners through the National College Match. All deadlines occur at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.
| Dates & deadlines | What | Who |
| Late summer | National College Match application opens. | Eligible high school seniors |
| September 30 | National College Match application deadline. | Eligible high school seniors |
| October 1 | Match Rankings Form opens. Research college partners and rank up to 15 schools through the Match Rankings Form, which is available on your Manage page. | All applicants |
| October 16 | Match Rankings Form deadline. The Match Agreement Form (available after submitting Match Rankings Form) is also due October 16. It must be signed by the applicant, their parent/guardian, and school counselor, and uploaded to the Manage page. | All applicants |
| October 21 | Finalist decisions released on the Manage page. Finalists who ranked colleges continue with their Match Requirements. Non-Finalists should proceed on their own with college applications, including exploring QuestBridge Regular Decision opportunities. | All applicants |
| November 1 | Match Requirements deadline. Finalists should submit all necessary materials to each college partner they ranked. | Finalists who ranked colleges |
| November 4 | QuestBridge Regular Decision Form becomes available on the Manage page. Finalists can begin to select colleges they wish to apply to if not matched or if not participating in the Match. | All Finalists |
| December 1 | Match Day! Match results released through the Manage page. Matched? Congrats! Finalists who match are admitted early with a full four-year scholarship to the school they matched with and must withdraw all other applications. Not matched? That’s okay! Finalists who do not match can explore their options following the Match for the schools they ranked and/or continue with QuestBridge Regular Decision.* *Because all of our college partners have extremely competitive admissions processes, Finalists who do not match should also apply to a range of target and likely non-QuestBridge colleges where they are confident they can be admitted. | Finalists who ranked colleges |
| December 11 | QuestBridge Regular Decision Form deadline. | Finalists who did not match |
| December - February 2026 | Additional Regular Decision Requirements must be submitted to each of the colleges you selected on your QuestBridge Regular Decision Form by the colleges' Regular Decision deadlines. | Finalists participating in QuestBridge Regular Decision |
| Spring 2026 | Admissions decisions are sent out by the colleges to QuestBridge Regular Decision applicants. | Finalists participating in QuestBridge Regular Decision |
| Fall 2026 | Celebrate! Any Finalist who attends a college partner through the Match or QuestBridge Regular Decision joins the QuestBridge Scholars Network. | Finalists attending a college partner |
Check out the standardized test requirements for our college partners.
Visit our online help portal, AskQB, to get your questions answered about the National College Match.