Mahwah Student Wins National Merit Corporate-Sponsored Scholarship

MAHWAH, NJ — A Mahwah High School student was just named a National Merit Scholar.

Luke Blazejewski is one of about 840 distinguished high school seniors in the U.S., and one of about 45 in New Jersey, who has won a corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship award.

Blazejewski was named among the first group of winners in the program, each of whom were announced Wednesday in a release. He is one of about 7,100 academic champions who will have been selected — by the conclusion of the year's competition — to receive scholarships totaling nearly $28 million.

The Mahwah senior is one of a small percentage of program entrants who was judged to have the "strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, and potential for success in college," the National Merit Scholarship Corporation said in the release.

He was selected from students who advanced to the finalist level in the competition and met the criteria of his scholarship sponsor: the pharmaceutical corporation Novartis — which is one of about 107 participating corporate sponsors.

Most of the scholarship awards are renewable for up to four years of college study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Recipients can use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university of their choice.

Blazejewski, whose probable career field is statistics — according to the NMSC —, entered the scholarship program as a junior when he took the 2021 preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. He was selected among 16,000 semifinalists, or less than 1% of test-takers, for his high score, Patch reported.

To be considered for a scholarship, the Mahwah student had to fulfill requirements — such as a detailed application and essay — to advance to finalist standing. He also had to have an "outstanding academic record," be endorsed or recommended by a high school official, and earn standardized test scores that confirmed their qualifying test performance.

From the semifinalist group, about 15,000 met finalist requirements.

"Congratulations to Luke on this wonderful accomplishment," the high school said when the senior had been named a semifinalist and finalist.