The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced this year’s scholarship winners, including Henry A. Cowen and Keira Currie, seniors at Haddonfield Memorial High School.
The 2,500 merit scholar winners were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists. They are finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of U.S. high-school seniors.
The scholars are selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high-school
counselors, who appraise a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools: academic records, including difficulty level of subjects studied and
grades earned; scores from the preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the finalist; and a recommendation from a high-school official.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation finances most of the $2,500 scholarships. Corporations
and company foundations help underwrite the scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees. Donations made to the corporation’s President’s Fund also provides funding for some scholarship awards. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2023 when high-school juniors
took the PSAT/NMSQT, an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the
highest-scoring participants in each state – representing less than 1% percent of the nation’s
high-school seniors – were named semifinalists on a state-representational basis. More than
16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.
From the semifinalist group, more than 15,000 students met the high academic standards and
other requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. Winners are announced
in four groups, and by the conclusion of the 2025 program, more than 6,930 finalists will have
earned the merit scholar title and received a total of nearly $26 million in college
scholarships.
