Lake Forest, Lake Bluff Students Win National Merit Scholarships

LAKE FOREST-LAKE BLUFF, IL — Students from Lake Forest and Lake Bluff 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.

Brian Hong, a Lake Bluff resident and Libertyville High School senior, was awarded a scholarship to Northwestern University.

Michael Park, of Lake Forest and Lake Forest High School, intends to pursue a career in corporate finance and was awarded a scholarship to Tulane University in New Orleans.

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 four Lake Forest High School students qualified as semifinalists in the program.

Earlier this spring, National Merit announced the winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships — including a LFHS student — and $2,500 scholarships from its own funds, which included students from Lake Forest and Lake Bluff.

The nonprofit plans to announce a second group of winners of college-sponsored scholarships in July.