St. Ignatius Chesterton Academy Senior Therese Biese Named 2022 QuestBridge Scholar

December 21, 2022

St. Ignatius Chesterton Academy Senior Therese G. Biese has been named a 2022 QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship Recipient and will attend the University of Notre Dame next fall on a full four-year scholarship through this prestigious national program.

QuestBridge National College Match is a national program that connects the country’s high-achieving high school seniors from low-income backgrounds with full four-year scholarships to 48 of the nation’s best colleges. Out of over 17,900 applicants this year, QuestBridge selected 5,613 Finalists to be considered for the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship. This year, QuestBridge’s 48 college partners matched with 1,755 Finalists, who are recognized as QuestBridge Scholars, including Therese.

“Our school community congratulates Therese for earning this well-deserved national honor. She is an exceptionally intelligent and capable young woman, who has fully embraced the ‘joyfully Catholic’ motto of St. Ignatius Chesterton Academy by developing strong friendships with her peers and through cheerful, selfless service to our community,” St. Ignatius Associate Head of School Krystyn Schmerbeck said. “Her academic dedication and abilities, along with her depth of character and strong faith, will help her thrive at the University of Notre Dame and throughout life.”

Recipients are admitted early to QuestBridge college partners with full four-year scholarships that are provided by the colleges and universities, ensuring for these students and their families that a college education can be affordable. This year’s recipients come from 49 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. They boast an average unweighted GPA of 3.94, and 94% are in the top 10% of their graduating class. In addition to the University of Notre Dame where Therese will attend, QuestBridge’s college partners range from liberal arts colleges such as Amherst and Carleton to research universities such as Duke, Princeton and Yale. Since 2003, the QuestBridge National College Match has connected more than 12,000 students with full scholarships.

Therese was also recently named a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist and is under consideration for Finalist and Scholar recognition, to be announced in spring 2023. She is the daughter of Tony and Shivaun Biese of Sherwood, Wis.

Therese is the first QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship Recipient for St. Ignatius Chesterton Academy. St. Ignatius Chesterton Academy, which serves students grades 9–12, opened in fall 2021 in Kaukauna and is part of the international Chesterton Schools Network. The Catholic classical high school was an expansion to the existing St. Ignatius Catholic School–the region’s only Catholic classical school–which serves students in grades 3K–8 in Kaukauna.

For more information about the QuestBridge National College Match Program, visit www.questbridge.org.