Highland Park Student Awarded College-Sponsored Merit Scholarship

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A Highland Park High School student was named a winner of a college-sponsored National Merit scholarship 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.

Elliot Starkman, who intends to pursue a career in the field of economics, was awarded a scholarship to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

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 12 Highland Park High School students qualified as semifinalists in the program.

Earlier this spring, National Merit announced the winners of corporate-sponsored scholarships — including two Highland Park High School students — and $2,500 scholarships from its own funds, which included another HPHS student.

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