Bolingbrook Student Awarded $2,500 National Merit Scholarship

BOLINGBROOK, IL — A student who lives in Bolingbrook was among the winners of this year's National Merit $2,500 scholarship, which was announced Wednesday by the corporation.

Connor Orr, of Bolingbrook, is a student at Plainfield East High School, and was chosen for the scholarship among a pool of more than 15,000 finalists. Orr has a probable career field of aerospace engineering, according to National Merit.

The National Merit $2,500 scholarship winners are the finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, the corporation said. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

This is the second announcement of winners for the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. College-sponsored Merit scholarship winners will be announced on June 4 and July 14, National Merit said.

At the end of this year's competition, more than 6,930 academic champions will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $26 million.