2 Arlington Heights Area Students Awarded 2026 National Merit Scholarships

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — More than 2,500 high school seniors, including two from the Arlington Heights area, have been named winners of college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Wednesday.

The scholarships are financed by U.S. colleges and universities. Officials at each sponsor college selected winners from among finalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution.

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The local students were chosen from among finalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. Those students are:

• Erin K. Lynch, of Arlington Heights, is a student at St. Viator High School (Arlington Heights) and received the National Merit University of Dayton Scholarship. Her probable career field is accounting.
• Jack Robert Alton, of Schaumburg, is a student at Schaumburg High School (Schaumburg), and received the National Merit Michigan State University Scholarship. His probable career field is linguistics.

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

This year, 138 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the program, including 69 private and 69 public institutions in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

Wednesday’s announcement is the third National Merit Scholar release in 2026. NMSC named recipients of corporate-sponsored awards on April 22 and winners of National Merit $2500 Scholarships on May 13. Additional recipients of college-sponsored awards will be announced July 13.

By the conclusion of this year’s competition, about 6,700 students will have won National Merit Scholarships worth approximately $24 million.

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