Lincoln-Way East Student Awarded College-Sponsored Merit Scholarship

FRANKFORT, IL — On Wednesday, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced over 2,900 winners of National Merit scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities.

Lincoln-Way East student James Legno, of Frankfort, received a National Merit Purdue University scholarship. Legno plans to study software engineering, according to the release.

These scholarships provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study, according to a release. An additional group of winners will be announced next month, bringing the total number of college-sponsored scholarship recipients to more than 3,600, the corporation said.

To compete for Merit scholarship awards, students had to be named semifinalists based on scores of the PSAT/NMSQT. Then, they had to submit a detailed application, write an essay, and be endorsed and recommended by a high school official.