The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has named two Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) seniors as recipients of 2024 Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships financed by corporate sponsors. The winners are:

 

Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology

Seohyun Park

Probable career field: Bioinformatics

National Merit New York Life Family Scholarship

 

North Gwinnett High School

Ian J. Carsley

Probable career field: Mechanical Engineering

National Merit Viasat Scholarship

 

     These students are among one group of winners in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship program. This year, approximately 770 distinguished high school seniors nationwide have won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards financed by about 94 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations.

    Scholars were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met the criteria of their scholarship sponsors. Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, residents of communities the company serves, or students 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.

     Some offer 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.

    This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began when high school juniors took the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. More than 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2024 competition, about 6,870 students will be named scholarship winners.