Montgomery, Ala. – Eight Alabama public high school seniors are 2010 Achievement Scholars. Alabama’s winners are among 800 Black American high school seniors who will share nearly $2 million in National Achievement Scholarships for college undergraduate study.
The 2010 Achievement Scholars include 700 winners of National Achievement® $2500 Scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). All Finalists in the 2010 competition were considered for these single-payment scholarships, which were awarded on a regional representation basis, in numbers proportional to the population of Black Americans in each geographic region.
About 100 Achievement Scholars receive corporate-sponsored Achievement Scholarships. 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 and $5,000. Corporate-sponsored scholarship winners are chosen from Finalists who meet the criteria of their grantor organizations. Most are residents of an area served by the sponsor, children of sponsor company employees, or Finalists planning to pursue a college major or career the grantor wishes to encourage.
Alabama’s eight Achievement Scholars were chosen from more than 160,000 students who entered the competition when they took the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) as high school juniors. In September 2009, NMSC narrowed the field to approximately 1,600 Semifinalists – the highest scorers.
Some 1,300 Semifinalists advanced to Finalist level, which requires:
· Consistently high academic record
· Endorsement and recommendation by school official
· SAT scores that confirm performance on qualifying test (PSAT/NMSQT)
· Written essay
The 2010 Achievement Scholars are the Finalists judged to have the strongest record of accomplishments and greatest potential for academic success in college.
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. The 2010 program marks 46 annual competitions in which more than 30,000 students have received scholarships worth over $95 million. The NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, conducts the scholarship program.
For more information on National Achievement Scholarships, contact Eileen Artemakis at 847-866-5100 or mediainfo@nmerit.net, or visit www.nationalmerit.org.
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