College-Sponsored Merit Scholarship Winners
Nine GCS seniors have earned National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities. Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.
Georgia N. Calhoun, Eastside High
Probable career field: Business
National Merit University of South Carolina Scholarship
Calvin T. Blessing, Greenville High Academy
Probable career field: International Relations
National Merit Macalester College Scholarship
Spencer J. Chea, Greenville High Academy
Probable career field: Biology
National Merit Clemson University Scholarship
Gordon D. Seay III, Greenville High Academy
Probable career field: International Business
National Merit University of South Carolina Scholarship
Adam M. Johnson, Hillcrest High
Probable career field: Chemical Engineering
National Merit University of Alabama Scholarship
Hayley L. Lightsey, J. L. Mann High Academy
Probable career field: Industrial Engineering
National Merit Clemson University Scholarship
Lillian E. Taylor, J. L. Mann High Academy
Probable career field: Bioinformatics
National Merit Emory University Scholarship
Griffin G. Webb, J. L. Mann High Academy
Probable career field: Agricultural Science
National Merit Clemson University Scholarship
Hanna A. Elgarhi, Riverside High
Probable career field: Genetics
National Merit University of Georgia Scholarship
This year, 167 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 92 private and 75 public institutions located in 43 states and the District of Columbia.
College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners are a part of the distinguished group of about 7,600 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth over $30 million. Earlier this spring, NMSC announced winners of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and National Merit $2,500 Scholarships.
2020 National Merit Scholarship Competition
Over 1.5 million juniors in approximately 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, approximately 16,000 Semifinalists were named 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 compete for Merit Scholarship awards, Semifinalists first had to advance to the Finalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements. Each Semifinalist was asked to submit 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® or ACT® scores that confirmed the qualifying test performance.
