Deerfield Students Awarded College-Sponsored Merit Scholarships

DEERFIELD, IL — Three Deerfield High School students were named winners of college-sponsored National Merit scholarships Wednesday. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the first group of about 4,100 recipients of the scholarships, which are selected by sponsor colleges from among 2019 National Merit finalists who plan to attend the schools.

Alexander Chen, who has a probable career field of theater, was awarded a scholarship to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Emma Rosenberg-Rappin, with a probable career field of music, was awarded a scholarship to Ithaca College in New York.

Daniel Jacob Shade, who has a probable career field in biomedical engineering, was awarded a scholarship to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an Evanston-based nonprofit established in 1955. Most of its scholarship funding is provided by about 400 college and corporate sponsors. The college-sponsored scholarships provide between $500 to $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.

This year, National Merit expects to award more than $31 million to about 7,600 high school seniors. Last fall, it announced a group of six Deerfield High School students qualified as semifinalists in the program. More than half of them have been named finalists so far.

Earlier this spring, National Merit announced the winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships and $2,500 scholarships from its own funds, which included a DHS student. The nonprofit plans to announce a second group of winners of college-sponsored scholarships in July.