RI's 2021 College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship Winners

PROVIDENCE, RI — Seven high school seniors in Rhode Island were awarded National Merit Scholarships sponsored by their college or university. Across the country, more than 3,100 students earned the scholarships, which range from $500 to $2,000 for up to four years of undergraduate study. A second group of winners will be announced in July, bringing this year's national total to approximately 4,000.

The scholarships are funded by the individual institutions, which select the winners. This year, 160 colleges and universities are sponsoring financial awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. There are 85 private and 75 public schools across 42 state and the District of Columbia.

More than 1.5 million juniors from approximately 21,000 high schools in the U.S. entered the program when they took the Preliminary SAT/National MeritScholarship Qualifying Test in 2018, which serves as the initial screening program. In the fall, the organization named 16,000 semifinalists. Those hoping to become finalists then had to submit a detailed application with information about leadership, extracurricular activities and awards, as well as write and essay and prove they had a stellar academic record.

Around 16,000 students were selected as finalized, approximately half of whom would go on to become winners this year.

Rhode Island's winners are listed below, alphabetically by city.

Kelly R. Gorman, Barrington

• Probable career field: Environmental Science
• Barrington High School
• National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship

Riley C. Marszalek, Coventry

• Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
• Coventry High School
• National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship

Brendan M. Johnson, Cumberland

• Probable career field: Stockbrokerage
• Cumberland High School
• National Merit Fordham University Scholarship

Spencer J. Wood, East Greenwich

• Probable career field: Politics
• Bishop Hendricken High School
• National Merit Vanderbilt University Scholarship

Nathan C. Casey, North Kingstown

• Probable career field: Biochemistry
• North Kingstown High School
• National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship

Luke F. Taylor, Providence

• Probable career field: Computer Science
• Classical High School
• National Merit Northeastern University Scholarship

Christopher Relyea, Warwick

• Probable career field: Music
• Bishop Hendricken High School
• National Merit Boston University Scholarship