Today, National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of approximately 800 outstanding Black American high school seniors who have won Achievement Scholarship® awards through the National Achievement Scholarship Program.
These awards, totaling over $2 million, are financed by grants from 30 corporate organizations and professional associations, and by National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 specifically to honor scholastically talented Black American youth and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition.
By the conclusion of the 2015 program, which marks the 51st annual competition, over 34,200 participants will have received scholarships for undergraduate study worth about $108 million. The program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.
The Achievement Scholar designees announced today include 700 recipients of National Achievement® $2500 Scholarships. All students who advanced to the Finalist level in the 2015 competition were considered for these single-payment scholarships, which were awarded on a regional representation basis in proportion to the population of Black Americans in each geographic region.
Garland High School student Janet A. Aiyedun was one of the $2500 winners.
About 100 Scholars are winners of corporate-sponsored Achievement Scholarship awards. These winners were selected from Finalists who met the specific criteria of their grantor organizations. Most are residents of an area served by the sponsor, children of the organization’s employees, or Finalists planning to pursue a college major or career the sponsor wishes to encourage. Almost all corporate-sponsored scholarships are renewable and provide stipends that can vary from $500 to $10,000 per year, but a few provide a single payment between $2,500
2015 National Achievement Scholarship Competition
About 150,000 students entered the 2015 National Achievement Scholarship Program by requesting consideration in the competition when they took the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) as high school juniors. In September 2014, approximately 1,600 of the highest scorers were named semifinalists on a regional representation basis. To continue in the competition, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements for Finalist standing, which included having a record of consistently high academic performance; being endorsed and recommended by an official from their high school; earning SAT® scores that confirmed their PSAT/NMSQT performance; and writing an essay. From the semifinalist pool, some 1,300 advanced to the Finalist level, and the 800 National Achievement Scholarship winners were selected from this group of outstanding students. Achievement Scholar awardees are the Finalist candidates judged to have the strongest record of accomplishments and greatest potential for academic success in college.
Transition of the Program
The National Achievement Scholarship Program will undergo a transition after the conclusion of the 2015 program. NMSC is forging a new relationship with UNCF, the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. UNCF will carry on the name and legacy of the National Achievement Scholarship Program through a newly designed program for college graduates. The new program, which will be administered by UNCF and underwritten by the National Achievement Scholarship Program, will honor and award financial assistance to high-achieving, underrepresented college graduates.