Towson Student Recognized by National Merit Scholarship Corporation

From Baltimore County Public Schools:

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Monday, July 18 that Chengrui Fu, who graduates from Towson High School in June, is among the last group of high school seniors who have been awarded 2016 National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities.

Fu is a Lutherville resident who plans to study computer science at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

College-sponsored awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

The National Merit Scholarship Program was established in 1955 to honor scholastically-talented American youth. It is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance.

More than 7,300 National Merit Scholar Finalists have won National Merit Scholarship Awards worth approximately $33 million. In addition to the just-announced college-sponsored scholarships, earlier this spring, a first group of college-sponsored scholarships was announced as well as corporate-sponsored scholarships and National Merit® $2,500 Scholarships.

About 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, 16,000 semifinalists were designated on a state representational basis. From the Semifinalist group, 15,000 met Finalist requirements, and half will receive Merit Scholarships.

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