About Quest

Intercultural learning has life-changing benefits for a young person, and contributes to the growth of schools and the world.   Studies show that students who study abroad

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     • achieve higher levels of education and foreign language proficiency

     • are better able to communicate with others and to think critically

     • have a better understanding of their home country and culture

     • are more confident, adaptable and resilient

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We believe the opportunity for study abroad should be open to all.

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Scholarships from a national non-profit organization offer grants for study abroad to high-achieving high school students from lower-income neighborhoods -- if organizations in their local community will provide the other half grant.

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Cities around the US have participated in the scholarship program for several years but, until recently, St. Louis has not.

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The Quest Scholarship Fund provides matching grants and one-on-one mentoring to help highly qualified St. Louis area students have the opportunity to study abroad.

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The St. Louis-based Quest Scholarship Fund began in 2017 and sent its first student abroad in the summer of 2017.  Six students from St. Louis and Metro East high schools journeyed to Ghana, Costa Rica, Finland and Italy in the summer of 2018.  In 2019, nine students studied abroad in Argentina, Ghana, Italy, Costa Rica, and Japan.  

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Sadly, COVID-19 interrupted travel plans of all students in 2020 and 2021. 

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International exchange programs resumed in 2022, and sixteen to nineteen students participated in each of the next three summers to programs in Argentina, Egypt, Denmark, France, Spain, Germany,  Japan, and Kenya. Twenty-five students are preparing to study abroad in 2025.  ​

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The Quest Scholarship Fund is a component fund of the St. Louis Community Foundation, a Missouri non-profit  501 (c)(3) corporation.