Twenty-two seniors are winners in National Achievement Scholarship competition

COLUMBIA, SC – April 11, 2009 – Twenty-two African American seniors in 18 South Carolina public high schools have been named winners in the 45th annual National Achievement Scholarship competition. They are among 800 students to achieve this honor for 2009.

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 29,000 recipients have received scholarships worth $93 million over the years.   

Four schools have two winners each – Richland District One’s Dreher High, Lexington/Richland District Five’s Dutch Fork High, the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville and Seneca High School in Oconee County.  One student from a Columbia-area private school also qualified. 

National Achievement’s 2009 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 53 students from 34 public high schools in the semifinal ranks announced last September. More than 150,000 high school juniors from all parts of the United States entered the 2009 program when they took the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

National Achievement Scholarships are supported by corporations, professional organizations, foundations and by National Merit’s own funds.  This year’s 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.