Deerfield Student Is National Merit Scholarship Winner

DEERFIELD, IL — A Deerfield resident has been named a winner for the 2021 corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship Program. So far, 52 National Merit winners have been announced in Illinois.

The winners were announced on Wednesday and include approximately 1,000 high-school seniors from across the U.S. According to a press release from the National Merit Scholarship Program, the corporate scholarships are financed by about 140 corporations, company foundations and other business organizations.

The awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study and students get a stipend that’s anywhere between $1,000 - $10,000 each year. Some of the awards include a single payment between $2,500-$5,000.

College Credits: Deerfield Resident Honored At Purdue

More than 1.5 million students applied for the highly competitive scholarship and the program says that around 7,500 students will go on to win scholarships in 2021 that total $30 million. Winners of the $2,500 scholarships and the college-sponsored scholarships will be announced later this year.

Here is the Deerfield winner for a corporate-sponsored scholarship:

Ellyn Y. Hu, of Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy Aurora, was awarded a National Merit scholarship sponsored by Walgreens. She intends to pursue a career in science/research, according to National Merit.

Winners were selected from students who advanced to the finalist level and met criteria set by corporate sponsors. Most corporate-sponsored scholarships are limited to qualifying children of employees, while some are also open to residents of certain areas or those who plan to pursue studies a corporate sponsor wants to encourage.

A total of 16,000 students were selected as finalists for the scholarships and the final winners are candidates “judged to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.”

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