Today, National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) released the names of the first group of winners in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. More than 1,000 distinguished high school seniors have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations. Following this is a list of local students who where awarded a scholarship:
National Merit Boeing Scholarship
The Boeing Company supports Merit Scholarship awards annually for children of employees. The Merit Scholarship awards are a part of the Boeing Company’s comprehensive aid to education program.
• Peter T. Tang
Probable career field:
Public Policy
Oxford Academy, Cypress
• Celine J. Veys
Probable career field:
Electrical Engineering
Oxford Academy, Cypress
• Danielle Elizabeth Beaudreau
Probable career field:
Accounting
Los Alamitos H.S., Los Alamitos
National Merit Siemens
Scholarship
Siemens Corporation produces and markets electrical and electronic systems, instruments, and components for medicine, science, and industry. Funded through the Siemens Foundation, the purpose of the scholarship program is to support higher education, to honor exceptionally talented high school students, and to aid as many as possible in obtaining a college education.
• Robert Li
Probable career field:
Bioengineering
Oxford Academy, Cypress
National Merit GKN Scholarship
GKN, a multinational corporation engaged in the design, manufacture, and sale or distribution of value-added products for the automotive and aerospace industries, finances this scholarship through the GKN Foundation. Competition for this scholarship is open to sons and daughters of employees in the company’s domestic operations.
• Bryan T. Vo
Probable career field:
Corporate Finance
Oxford Academy, Cypress
Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the Finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for Finalists who are children of their employees, who are residents of communities the company serves, or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage. Most of these awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $500 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.
Funding for these National Merit Scholarships is provided by corporate organizations that represent nearly all sectors of American industry. Sponsors from the business community have underwritten awards offered in all 61 competitions, expending or committing more than $750 million to support the intellectual development of the nation’s scholastically talented youth.
Over 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. In September 2015, some 16,000 Semifinalists were designated on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.
To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, Semifinalists had to fulfill requirements to advance to Finalist standing. Each Semifinalist was asked to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT® scores that confirmed their qualifying test performance. From the Semifinalist group, some 15,000 met Finalist requirements.
By the conclusion of the 2016 competition, about 7,500 Finalists will have been selected to receive National Merit Scholarships totaling about $33 million. Winners are the Finalist candidates judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. NMSC, a not-for-profi t organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of National Merit Scholarships offered each year are underwritten by some 440 independent corporate and college sponsors that support NMSC’s efforts to honor the nation’s scholastically talented youth and encourage academic excellence at all levels of education.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation
This is the first announcement of National Merit Scholars in 2016 by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). NMSC will name recipients of National Merit® $2500 Scholarships on May 11, and winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards on June 1 and July 18. By the conclusion of this year’s competition, about 7,500 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $33 million.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation is located at 1560 Sherman Avenue, Suite 200 in Evanston, Illinois. Contact Eileen Artemakis or Matthew Budreau at 847-866-5100, e-mail mediainfo@nmerit.net or visit www.nationalmerit.org for more information.