UCS grad among select group earning additional Merit scholarships

A Utica Community Schools senior is among 1,600 national graduates and only 42 students statewide to earn additional scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship program.

Shelby Imboden, a 2014 graduate of Henry Ford II High School and the Utica Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology, earned a National Merit Scholarship grant financied by U.S. colleges and universities.

Imboden received scholarship funding from Wayne State University to study biomedical engineering.

Michigan students have been offered scholarships between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study through National Merit programs funded by colleges and universities.

Students initially qualify for the Merit program by being among the top one percent of students in the country taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

This year, Utica Community Schools had five National Merit semifinalists. Semifinalists represent the top one percent of all high school students nationally in terms of academic ability.

Earlier this summer, the National Merit Corporation announced a first round of 2,500 college-sponsored grants. During that round, UAIS graduate Kathleen Surhigh earned a scholarship to study political science at the University of Chicago.