Glacier High School grad receives National Merit Scholarship

Silas Schwarz of Glacier High School was named among the winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities.

Schwarz received the National Merit Scholarship through the University of Montana and he plans to study computer science. Each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from a pool of finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners are a part of the distinguished group of about 7,500 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships.

More than 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants, according to a press release.

Approximately 16,000 semifinalists representing the highest-scoring program entrants in each state were named. To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, semifinalists had to advance to the finalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements.

For more information about the National Merit Scholarship program, visit http://www.nationalmerit.org.