25 Minnesota Students Are National Merit Scholarship Winners

MINNESOTA— 25 Minnesota students have been named winners for the 2021 corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship Program.

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.

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 are the Minnesota winners for the corporate-sponsored scholarships:

• Anya Khandpur, Afton-National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Jacob B. Tiegen, Alexandria-National Merit Raytheon Scholarship
• Amy E. Monsen, Apple Valley-National Merit General Dynamics Corporation Scholarship
• Julian A. Byrne, Bloomington-National Merit Aon Scholarship
• Devna Panda, Eden Prairie- National Merit Emerson Electric Co. Scholarship
• Dylan R. Olson, Excelsior- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Natalie K. Horwath, Fridley- National Merit Trane Technologies Scholarship
• Amanda J. Lawless, Hermantown- National Merit National Distillers Distributors Foundation Scholarship
• Zachary A. Frank, Lino Lakes- National Merit Siemens Scholarship
• Soren L. Davidson, Minneapolis- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Thomas D. Isberg, Minneapolis- National Merit Gannett Foundation/Madelyn P. Jennings Scholarship
• Mary R. Baker, Rochester- National Merit W.W. Grainger, Inc. Scholarship
• Lukas J. Arnold, Spicer- National Merit Hormel Foods Corporation Charitable Trust Scholarship
• Rafael K. Barocas, St. Paul- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Sungjoon Park, St. Paul- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Allison M. Benjamin, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Isak K. Dai, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Karina M. Dovgodko, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• William B. Krisko, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Christina J. Li, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Dhruv M. Muppidi, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Garrett W. Strain, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• David L. Wang, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship
• Joey E. Wu, Woodbury- National Merit 3M Scholarship

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.”