Wayne Students Win 2021 National Merit Scholarships

WAYNE, NJ — Two Wayne Valley High School students are among the 3,100 winners of National Merit Scholarships in 2021.

Alexandra Kazakov and Hope E. Mandler received the scholarships, which are financed by U.S. colleges and universities. Kazakov's scholarship is funded by the University of Maryland, while Mandler's is funded by Vanderbilt University.

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution, according to a news release.

These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

An additional group of Scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2021 competition to about 4,000. The group announced recently are among about 7,500 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships, totaling nearly $30 million.

This year, 160 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 85 private and 75 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia.