TOWSON, MD–Dulaney High School senior Alexis C. Russell is among the 3,000 distinguished high school seniors from across the nation who have earned a National Merit College Scholarship.

The College Scholarship awards, which are financed by U.S. colleges and universities, 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 scholarship recipients for 2023 to more than 3,800.

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend the sponsoring institution. Russell, who plans a career in medicine, was awarded the National Merit Brigham Young University Scholarship sponsored by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

This year, 153 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit® Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 81 private and 72 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia. College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners are among more than 7,140 high school seniors who will receive National Merit® Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $28 million. Earlier this spring, NMSC announced winners of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and National Merit $2500 Scholarships.

High school juniors across the nation entered the 2023 National Merit® Scholarship Program when they took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). Last fall, more than 16,000 semifinalists were designated on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than 1 percent of the nation’s seniors.

To be considered for a National Merit® Scholarship, semifinalists had to fulfill requirements to advance to finalist standing. Each semifinalist was asked to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record and be endorsed and recommended by a high school official. From the semifinalist group, more than 15,000 met finalist requirements.