College-Sponsored Merit Scholarship Winners Named

EVANSTON, Ill. — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) on June 7 announced more than 3,200 winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities.

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

An additional group of scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2017 competition to approximately 4,000.

This year, 182 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards. Sponsor colleges and universities include 103 private and 79 public institutions located in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

The latest winners are part of a distinguished group of about 7,500 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships for undergraduate study worth over $32 million. Earlier this spring, NMSC announced winners of corporate-sponsored awards and National Merit $2,000 Scholarships.

For more information, visit www.nationalmerit.org.

California recipients include:

• Connor K. Akiyama of Los Altos Hills, a student at Los Altos High School in Los Altos, who will receive the National Merit Tufts University Scholarship. Probable career field: International relations.

Tufts University, located 6 miles from Boston, offers the personal attention of a small college and the options of a complex university. Among the options available to the 4,400 undergraduates in liberal arts and engineering are self-designed majors, the experiemental college, independent study, an honors program, double-degree programs, internships, study abroad, a semester in Washington, and ROTC. Over 150 clubs, organizations and sports reinforce the balance at Tufts.

• Justin B. Kawaguchi of Newbury Park, a student at Newbury Park High School in Newbury Park, who will receive the National Merit University of Southern California Scholarship. Probable career field: Surgical medicine.

• David S. Nagoshi of Palos Verdes Estates, a student at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in Rolling Hills Estates, who will receive the National Merit University of Southern California Scholarship. Probable career field: Aerospace engineering.

USC is private, coeducational; and nonsectarian, and is located in the heart of Los Angeles. Undergraduate enrollment is nearly 14,000 students. A College of Letters, Arts and Sciences is complemented by 19 professional and graduate schools offering undergraduate and graduate degrees. Graduate enrollment is about 12,000.