National Merit Scholarship

American  

noun

1. one of some 7,500 college scholarships awarded annually since 1955 by the nonprofit, grant-supported National Merit Scholarship Corporation, to high school students National Merit Scholars on the basis of scholastic record, personal character, and score on a test administered nationally.

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Example Sentences

One concerned the geographic rich-poor financial gap, and the other demonstrated a parallel geographic gap among the National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist students.

From Seattle Times

Thirty-eight students at Interlake High School, a public school in Bellevue, are National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists, making Interlake the school with the highest number of semifinalists in Washington state.

From Seattle Times

The top scorers are named finalists or semifinalists, meaning they can compete for a National Merit Scholarship award.

From Washington Post

Reid also announced a new division-wide process for high schools to ensure students are notified of all National Merit Scholarship honors in the future.

From Washington Post

Fairfax County Public Schools officials commissioned the outside review by the law firm Sands Anderson after some high schools were months late in telling students they had been named “commended students” by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., which recognizes the highest scorers on a national standardized test.

From Washington Post