2 Waukesha County Students Are National Merit Scholarship Winners

BROOKFIELD, WI— Two Waukesha County 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.

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."

Here are the Wisconsin winners for the corporate-sponsored scholarships:

Kevin J. Li, Brookfield.

Probable career field: Computer Science

Brookfield East High School

Brookfield National Merit Ascension Scholarship: Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. and the world's largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Sponsoring scholarships for children of associates is one way Ascension supports its associates and caregivers, and their families.

Lily D. Van Horn, Hartland.

Probable career field: Actuarial Science

Arrowhead High School

Hartland National Merit Liberty Mutual Scholarship: Founded in 1912 in Massachusetts to coincide with the enactment of the workers' compensation law, Liberty Mutual is now the largest underwriter of that type of insurance in addition to insuring all other forms of coverage, including life insurance, international