The National Achievement Scholarship is offered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation or NMSC. The NMSC was first established in 1964 and was enacted around the time of the passage of the Civil Rights Act. This scholarship is specifically designed to help encourage young Black American teens to go to college and further their education.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is not a government funded scholarship program and is solely run by donations and sponsors. The entire program is privately financed and students are awarded the scholarship on an annual basis.
The National Achievement Scholarship has a simple mission and clear goal and that is to honor all Black American high school students who are considered scholastically promising and provide undergraduate students the opportunity to win a monetary award to help them fund their dream to go on to college.
The purpose of the National Achievement Scholarship is to help increase the educational opportunities of accomplished and deserving Black American students. The idea behind the scholarship is also to help encourage them to live out their dream and broaden their horizons. The program also wants to help encourage the academic success of all Black American students by allowing them to serve as role models for other students.
Since its creation in 1964, the National Achievement Scholarship has had over 4.6 million Black American students apply with 228,000 of them receiving program recognition. 34,000 of those students have received a scholarship with the entire amount totaling over $108 million.
Below, we will provide you with more information about the National Achievement Scholarship including the award amount, deadlines, and more.
About the National Achievement Scholarship
Students who wish to apply for the National Achievement Scholarship must take the PSAT/NMSQT. This test is typically taken in the third year of high school for students, but may be taken anywhere between grades 9 and 12. The test dates are determined on a school basis and not on a student by student basis. For example, the 2015 PSAT/NMSQT test was for the 2017 school year. This test helps to determine if a student is eligible to be considered for the National Achievement Scholarship.
Students must be currently enrolled in a US high school and must be a student in good academic standing. All applicants must plan to attend a college full time after graduation as well. Since the National Achievement Scholarship is designed for Black American students, you must meet this requirement as well.
The National Achievement Scholarship will take into consideration a student’s academic achievements, grades, skills, abilities, and their accomplishments up until their spring senior year.
The total amount of the National Achievement Scholarship is $2,500 and approximately 700 of them will be awarded. Students who win the scholarship can expect to receive a single payment in the amount of $2,500.
Scholarship winners are chosen based on their academic excellence and achievements and this scholarship is not based on a financial need.
Students who applied to receive the scholarship, but did not win, can also apply for corporate-sponsored scholarships. These are offered on an annual basis as long as funds are available. The criteria for these corporate-sponsored scholarships will depend on the individual sponsor.