More than 1,600 Black American high school seniors who have been designated Semifinalists in the 51st annual national Achievement Scholarship program were announced today by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) officials. The Semifinalists from Alpharetta High School are Devon Merlette and Elyse Martin (pictured above). These scholastically talented young men and women now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for the approximately 800 Achievement Scholarship awards worth about $2.5 million that will be awarded next spring.
The National Achievement Scholarship Program, conducted by the NMSC, is a privately funded 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. These students have been identified based on their scores from the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. To date, approximately 33,500 young men and women have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth about $105 million.
