Twenty-six seniors are winners in National Achievement Scholarship competition
April 14, 2010
COLUMBIA, SC – April 13, 2010 – Twenty-six African American seniors in 19 South Carolina public high schools have been named winners in the 46th annual National Achievement Scholarship competition. They are among 800 students to achieve this honor for 2010.
The National Achievement Program is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. National Achievement awards began in 1964 to recognize promising black students. More than 30,000 recipients have received scholarships worth $95 million over the years.
Two schools have three winners apiece – Lexington/Richland District Five’s Irmo High and the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville. Three schools have two winners each – Charleston County’s Academic Magnet High, Aiken County’s North Augusta High and Rock Hill High in York District Three. Two students from a Columbia-area private school also qualified, along with one private school student from Greenville.
National Achievement’s 2010 winners were selected from among 1,600 semifinalists nationwide on the basis of their abilities, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
South Carolina had 45 students from 30 public high schools in the semifinal ranks announced last September. More than 160,000 high school juniors from all parts of the United States entered the 2010 program when they took the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
National Achievement Scholarships this year total nearly $2 million and are supported by approximately 35 corporations, professional organizations, foundations and by National Merit’s own funds. The winners include 700 recipients of National Achievement $2,500 single-payment scholarships and 100 winners of corporate-sponsored Achievement Scholarships. Almost all corporate-sponsored awards are renewable and provide stipends ranging from $500 to $10,000 per year, but a few provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.
