13 College-Sponsored Merit Scholarships Awarded to Cobb Students

Jun. 1, 2021

National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) recently announced another round of scholarship winners. U.S. colleges and university-sponsored scholarships for 13 students from Cobb Schools. Students from Wheeler High School earned the most National Merit Scholarships, 7. Four Walton High School students were awarded scholarships, and one scholar was named from Lassiter High School and Sprayberry High School.

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalists

in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. A total of 3,100 scholars were announced nationwide.

These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

The most recent announcement of National Merit Scholarships brings the total for Cobb Schools up to 22 for this year.

7 Cobb Students Earn $2500 National Merit Scholarships

An additional group of Scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2021 competition to about 4,000.

This year, 160 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards

through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 85

private and 75 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners announced today are a part of the

distinguished group of about 7,500 high school seniors who will receive National Merit

Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $30 million. Earlier this spring,

NMSC announced winners of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and National Merit $2500 Scholarships.

Two Cobb Students Named Winners of Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships

Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), an initial screen of program entrants. In September 2020, approximately 17,000 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, including writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record and be endorsed and recommended by a high school official.

From the Semifinalist group, some 16,000 met Finalist requirements. By the conclusion of the 2021 competition, about 7,500 Finalists will have been selected to receive National Merit Scholarships totaling nearly $30 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-profit 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 400 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.

Cobb Schools College-Sponsored Merit Scholarship Winners

Aidan C. Payne, Lassiter High School

Probable career field: Applied Mathematics

National Merit University of Alabama Scholarship

Allison D. Mawn, Sprayberry High School

Probable career field: Journalism