Niles Resident Wins College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship

NILES, IL — A Niles resident who recently graduated from Maine East High School was named among the first group of winners of college-sponsored scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Rebecca F. Hurwitz, who plans to pursue a career in chemical engineering, was awarded a scholarship to Vanderbilt University, a private university in Nashville, Tennessee.

According to the Evanston-based nonprofit, 155 higher education institutions — 82 private and 73 public — are covering the cost of about 4,000 college-sponsored scholarships this year.

The scholarships cover between $500 and $2,000 a year for up to four years of undergraduate study at the sponsoring school.

National Merit representatives released the names of more than 2,600 of them Wednesday, and the rest will be revealed on July 11.

Once complete, the nonprofit will have awarded about $28 million in scholarships to about 7,500 incoming college students.

Winners are selected based on results from the preliminary SAT and students' roles in activities inside and outside of school, an essay and a recommendation from a high school official.