Woodbury Student Named Semifinalist for National Achievement Scholarship Program

Press release

Woodbury High School senior Oluwatoosin O. Ajagbe has been named a semfinalist in the 2013 National Achievement Scholarship program.

Ajagbe—pictured here with U.S. Sen. Al Franken after she won the 2012 Minnesota Poetry Out Loud contest—is one of more than 1,600 Black American high school seniors who have been designated as semifinalists in the 49th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) officials.

These scholastically talented young men and women now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 800 Achievement Scholarship awards worth more than $2.5 million that will be offered next spring.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program, conducted by NMSC, is a privately financed academic competition that operates without government assistance. It was initiated in 1964 to recognize academically promising black students throughout the nation and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding program participants. To date, over 31,900 young men and women have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth more than $100 million.

To be considered for a National Achievement Scholarship, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 80 percent of Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and more than half of the Finalists will win an Achievement Scholarship award.