Bottom Line was founded in 1997 as a small operation supporting 25 high school seniors from Boston. In a time when 1 in 7 low-income students who began attending college would finish, Bottom Line's founder Dave Borgal helped all 25 students get accepted to college and 80% graduate in six years or less. Since then, Bottom Line has maintained a high level of success and grown into a nationally recognized College Access and Success Program serving more than 7,000 students from Boston, Chicago, New York City, Worcester, and Ohio. Read more about our history and growth.

2022

  • Bottom Line receives a transformative $15 million gift from American novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott that will support a return to pre-pandemic plans for growth and sustainability.

2021

  • The "Blockbuster Results" of our randomized control trial are describedin this article by Bob Sullivan, with personal anecdotes of alumni who describe the personalized nature of Bottom Line advising.
  • The unprecedented success of Bottom Line's advising model is documented in a 7-year, randomized control trial conducted by Dr. Ben Castleman and Dr. Andrew Barr.
  • Bottom Line receives a multi-year grant to begin operations in Ohio!

2017

  • We are almost 2,200 graduates strong - and still growing!
  • Research shows that Bottom Line advising shifts students' "enrollment toward four-year colleges that are less expensive and have higher graduation rates than alternatives students would otherwise choose."

2016

  • We were invited to take part in the White House's My Brother’s Keeper panel in Washington, D.C.  Bottom Line staff and an alumnus participated in a showcase with 32 other organizations who show rigorous evidence of impact for all youth, including boys and young men of color
  • The first report from the long-term Randomized Control Trial evaluation of our programs from Dr. Ben Castleman indicates that Bottom Line has a "substantial positive effect both on enrollment and in particular on the quality of students enrollment."

2015

  • Two students from our Chicago office were invited to attend the "Beating the Odds" Summit hosted by the First Lady at the White House.
  • Our Massachusetts office secured a $4 million grant from the State Street Foundation's Boston WINS Initiative.
  • The first class of students from our New York City office graduated college. 

2014

  • Bottom Line began a long-term Randomized Control Trial evaluation of our programs, the gold-standard of scientific research. Dr. Ben Castleman, Assistant Professor of Education and Public Policy at the University of Virginia is selected to lead the study.
  • Our Chicago office opened and immediately began serving an inaugural class of 75 high school seniors and 75 first year college students.
  • We celebrated our 1,000th college graduate.

2013

  • Bottom Line achieved our highest college graduation rate to date: 87% of the most recent class of high school students graduated from college.
  • 166 students from Massachusetts graduated in the spring, bringing the total number of graduates to nearly 900.

2012

  • Bottom Line launched a $5 million growth campaign in Massachusetts, aimed at improving the college graduation rates from Boston’s poorest neighborhoods and we received a $2.5 million gift from the Lewis Family Foundation (the largest gift to date).
  • Our National Office opened to improve efficiency and support additional expansion.

2011

  • Our New York office opened and served an inaugural class of 121 high school seniors.
  • Bottom Line secured our first $1 million grant from USA Funds in support of national expansion and College Success.

2010

  • We graduated our largest class (93 students) and supported nearly 1,400 students in total.
  • Bottom Line was honored by National College Access Network by winning the 2010 College Access Organization Award of Excellence.

2009

  • 100% of the inaugural Worcester class was accepted to college.
  • Bottom Line moved to a larger office in Jamaica Plain on Amory Street to accommodate our growing programs.

2008

  • Our Worcester office opened. We supported 1,100 students from both offices.
  • Bottom Line was selected as an official charity of the Boston Marathon.

2007

  • We grew to 14 employees, 880 students, and 265 alumni.

2006

  • Bottom Line held our first Get In, Graduate, and Go Far spring fundraising dinner event.

2004

  • 80% of our first high school class graduated college within six years.

2003

  • 32 additional students graduated from college.
  • Greg Johnson becomes the Executive Director.

2002

  • Our first 10 students graduate from college!

2000

  • Bottom Line grew to 4 full-time employees and 250 students.

1998

  • Founder Dave Borgal supported the inaugural 25 students during their freshman year of college and helped 50 new high school seniors apply to college.

1997

  • Founder Dave Borgal secured a small office on the ground floor of New Mission High School in Boston and helped 25 high school seniors apply to college.