Lincoln-Way West Student Awarded College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship

NEW LENOX, IL — A Lincoln-Way West High School student was named among 3,200 winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities Wednesday.

By the time the final list of winners is announced next month, a total of about 7,500 high school seniors will have received more than $32 million in scholarships to pursue undergraduate education, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

RELATED: Lincoln-Way East Student Named National Merit Winner

Winners are chosen by each of the sponsoring colleges from among finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship program who planned to attend the schools. The awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years.

The latest Lincoln-Way West High School student to earn a scholarship to her college of choice is Christian M. Panici, who will likely study computer science at Loyola University (Chicago).

Wednesday's announcement was the third so far this year. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) previously announced winners of corporate-sponsored awards and National Merit $2,5000 scholarships. The final announcement of college-sponsored awards has been scheduled for July 17.

Patch Editor Jonah Meadows contributed to this report.