2 Reston Students Awarded 2022 National Merit Scholarships

RESTON, VA — The first round of 2022 National Merit Scholarship winners have been announced, and two students from Reston area in the mix.

About 1,000 winners are receiving National Merit Scholarships sponsored by 136 corporations, company foundations and other business groups. The scholarships provide between $1,000 and $10,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the higher education institution. Some students will receive a single payment between $2,500 and $5,000.

There were 17 winners from Virginia, including two from the Reston area:

• Arya Grayell of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology received the National Merit Senator S. Chuck Robb Scholarship. Grayell plans to study computer science in college.
• Elliot Lee of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology received a scholarship from Leidos, Inc., which is headquartered in Reston. Lee, who lives in Great Falls, has not decided what he will be studying in college.

The corporate-sponsored scholarships are the first round of National Merit Scholarships to be announced for 2022. The names of the National Merit Scholarship winners receiving $2,500 will be announced on May 11, followed by two other rounds of awards being given in June and July. This will bring the total of college-sponsored awards to about 4,000.

To be entered for the National Merit Scholarship competition, over 1.5 million students were entered as juniors taking the PSAT in 2020. In fall 2021, around 16,000 semifinalists were named based on each state's proportion of graduating seniors. Semifinalists were the top scoring entrants in their states and represent less than 1 percent of seniors in the U.S.

To be considered for finalist status, semifinalists had to submit a detailed scholarship application with an essay and details on extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions as well as demonstrate an outstanding academic record and have an endorsement from a high school official. Around 16,000 finalists met requirements for finalists status and were eligible to be chosen for corporate-sponsored, National Merit Scholarship-sponsored and college-sponsored awards.

In all, about 7,500 students will win National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million in 2022.