Ridge Student Wins Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — A Ridge High School student earned a corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship. Daniel Xia, who's interested in a career in mathematics, was one of 1,000 high school seniors around the United States to earn the honor.

Xia earned the National Merit AbbVie Inc. Scholarship. AbbVie annually awards scholarships to children of employees of AbbVie Inc., U.S. divisions.

Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for finalists who are children of their employees, residents of the communities the company serves or who plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.

Most of the awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study and provide annual stipends that range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year. Some provide a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000. Recipients can use their scholarships at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will name recipients of its $2,500 scholarships on May 11 and then announce winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards on June 1 and July 11. By the end of this year's competitions, about 7,500 students will have received more than $28 million in merit scholarships — an average of about $3,700 per winner.

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